The brain, that “cobbled together mess,†is the subject of this lively mix of solid science and fascinating case histories. Linden, a neuroscientist from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, offers “the Reader's Digest
version†of how the brain functions, followed quickly by the “real biology,†before tackling the big questions: Why are people religious? How do we form memories? What makes sleep so vital to mental health? Which is more important, nature or nurture? Linden tackles these problems head-on, along the way debunking myths (people do, in fact, use more than 10 percent of their brains) and offering interesting trivia (Einstein's brain was a bit on the small side). Antievolutionary arguments are answered in a chapter titled “The Unintelligent Design of the Brain,†in which Linden proposes that it's the brain's “weird agglomeration of ad hoc solutions†that makes humans unique. The book's greatest strength is Linden's knack for demystifying biology and neuroscience with vivid similes (he calls the brain, weighing 2 percent of total body weight and using 20 percent of its energy, the “Hummer H2 of the bodyâ€). Though packed with textbook-ready data, the book grips readers like a masterful teacher; those with little science experience may be surprised to find themselves interested in—and even chuckling over—the migration of neurons along radial glia, and anxious to find out what happens next. (Mar.)
