The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons

April 28, 2014
Science writer Kean (The Disappearing Spoon) delves into the strange ways we've learned about the workings of our brains, rejuvenating with invigorating detail anecdotes that otherwise receive only brief textbook mention. Even his organization, with each chapter devoted to a particular scientific discovery, is assembled to be most effectively processed by the brain and its capacities for chunking smaller units of information. Reading this collection is like touring a museum of neuroscience's most dramatic anomalies, each chapter taking us to a different place and time. We see how the death of King Henry II of France initiated a curiosity for anatomy that persists today, learn that some of the most innovative theories of neuron function came from studying frog hearts, and how Paul Broca discovered the brain's "first language node." Of course, no collection of science's most enlightening maladies is complete without mention of Phineas Gage's famous incident with a tamping iron, but here it is rendered afresh. Indeed, Kean's colloquial language and intimate voice bring all of this series of mini-histories to lifeâall of which are sure to stimulate a wide range of brains.

April 15, 2014
Neurosurgery has come a long way since the 16th century, and this series of historical anecdotes traces the many people who, often by suffering horrific injuries, allowed the study and treatment of brain trauma to evolve and become the sophisticated field it is today. For centuries, brain injuries have been documented and analyzed as doctors attempted to comprehend how the brain functions. How is it that a man can survive a spike through his skull, and yet his peer drops dead after a seemingly minor bump? In tale after tale, best-selling author Kean (The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code, 2012, etc.) provides a fascinating, and at times gloriously gory, look at how early efforts in neurosurgery were essentially a medical guessing game. Those who survived the wounds or seizures were often irrevocably changed as new personality traits emerged, giving doctors clues about how the brain altered itself in a struggle to function despite trauma. Major discoveries about how the brain works were borne from inspecting damaged brains in the context of the injured person's symptoms. For example, facts emerged about how the left and right hemispheres complement each other, how language follows different neural circuits depending on if it's spoken or read (interestingly, many people recovering language skills after an injury are able to sing song lyrics but not speak in regular conversation), and how memory, sense perception and facial recognition are embedded deep in the astonishingly complex circuitry of the brain. How else would early surgeons learn about this complexity but by dissecting the brain itself? Entertaining and quotable, Kean's writing is sharp, and each individual story brings the history of neuroscience to life. Compulsively readable, wicked scientific fun.

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February 1, 2014

Strokes, seizures, accidents: if they don't kill, they can traumatize the brain so badly that an individual's personality can be significantly changed. But, explains the New York Times best-selling author of the terrific The Violinist's Thumb, early neuroscientists saw such trauma as an opportunity to study the brain's wondrous workings.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014
Science writer Kean explores the vagaries and inconsistencies of the human brain via diverting stories that chronicle medical science's fits and starts. To say these are diverting is, however, an oversimplification since their subjectsprimarily unfortunate individuals with brain injuriescommand sympathy if not empathy. Yet Kean's focus is on their contribution to the field of neuroscience along with, in too many instances, the misguided misinformation of the medical professionals who treated them. Take the case of France's King Henry II. When he lost his right eye plus a bit of his brain to a poorly aimed jousting spear, his physicians' limited knowledge of the brain's physiognomy cost him his life. Then there's President Garfield's assassin, Charles Guiteau, whose undiagnosed bipolar mind was further addled by syphilis and who, naturally . . . thought himself fit for politics. To pick up one of these stories is to lose oneself in them. Where does the brain end and the mind begin? Curious readers will find both brain and mind fully revved up while engaging with this powerfully appealing and thought-provoking work of neuroscience history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)