Soul Made Flesh

Soul Made Flesh

by Carl Zimmer (Author)

Synopsis

We take it for granted that the brain is the seat of our minds, the part of the body that is most ourselves. 500 years ago, Europeans, if they thought about the brain at all, took it much less seriously - whether it was a refrigerator or a pump, it was seen as little more than a mechanism, its only products tears and snot. Among the revolutions of the seventeenth century was a revolution on the understanding of the brain and mind. It's central figure was a 17th century Englishman called Thomas Willis. To him, we owe our modern understanding of the miracle that is the human brain, the first dissections of the skull and the word 'psychology'. Zimmer's new book tells Willis' story, against the background of Civil War, regicide and Restoration. Set in London and Oxford, we see the context of Willis' researches and dissections, meet his famous friends, the founders of the Royal Society, Boyle, Hooke and Sir Christopher Wren, who attended Willis' dissections and sketched the results. Few stories in the history of science are as important and fascinating - and as little-known - as this one.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Published: 01 Apr 2004

ISBN 10: 0434010464
ISBN 13: 9780434010462
Book Overview: The story of Thomas Willis, the 17th century English scientist who transformed our understanding of the brain and gave birth to modern neuroscience and psychology.

Author Bio
Carl Zimmer writes the monthly essay in the US magazine Natural History, having inherited this position from Stephen Jay Gould.