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yates9's review against another edition
3.0
Pleasant smooth writing from Ramachandran, but overall a bit basic in terms of consciousness study.
tearsinthesea's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book. Neuroscience has always been an interest to me and the way this author presents various cases and disorders only makes me fascinated more. I enjoyed this book and it wasn't too lengthy or boring. To be honest I only disliked one of the chapters, but only because it didn't appeal to me as much as all the others did! It has a lot of the interesting cases in the Notes so I think it's important to read that. This was a greatly written non fiction book for non-neuroscientists. I'll be looking out for more books by him!
sebarose's review against another edition
3.0
When the author is more speculative, the book suffers. When sticking to a discussion of the syndromes, the book is a delight.
michael5000's review against another edition
3.0
Reads like a rough draft of Ramachandran's other books, and may indeed be one. Fine but not as good as those others.
beak's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting stuff, though the book felt more like a teaser than full-length. Nonetheless, a good introduction to the neurology underneath consciousness, and invites consideration of consciousness as a crossroads between objective and subjective 'reality'.
djfreshjams's review against another edition
3.0
a decent overview of topics in cognitive neuroscience, but the author is kind of annoying and it's a wasted read if you're at all familiar with the subject already.
introvertedbear's review against another edition
3.0
I had to read this for a psychology decision-making class, but this book has nothing to do with decision-making (I blame my teacher for that one).
The book has five different chapters and lots of notes, taking a crack at different concepts of human consciousness. Each chapter addresses a different theme, and so the chapters don't flow into each other.
The chapters start with scientific evidence, mostly from case studies and Ramachandran's own research. The style is very accessible and Ramachandran breaks it down into easy to understand terms, even if you've never had a psychology class before. The bad thing is that Ramachandran loves to theorize about things, and he backs his theories with scientific evidence. However, that evidence comes from case studies and sometimes unpublished data, and so, technically, since case studies are specifically about one person or event, case studies aren't too reliable as scientific evidence. It's impossible to know if one case is representative of all cases or just an exception.
That being said, the book is definitely an interesting view of human consciousness, but it's mostly just theories. I advise you to read it with caution, making sure to note exactly when he's talking about scientifically proven ideas and when he's discussing his personal view on theory.
The book has five different chapters and lots of notes, taking a crack at different concepts of human consciousness. Each chapter addresses a different theme, and so the chapters don't flow into each other.
The chapters start with scientific evidence, mostly from case studies and Ramachandran's own research. The style is very accessible and Ramachandran breaks it down into easy to understand terms, even if you've never had a psychology class before. The bad thing is that Ramachandran loves to theorize about things, and he backs his theories with scientific evidence. However, that evidence comes from case studies and sometimes unpublished data, and so, technically, since case studies are specifically about one person or event, case studies aren't too reliable as scientific evidence. It's impossible to know if one case is representative of all cases or just an exception.
That being said, the book is definitely an interesting view of human consciousness, but it's mostly just theories. I advise you to read it with caution, making sure to note exactly when he's talking about scientifically proven ideas and when he's discussing his personal view on theory.
lolaleviathan's review against another edition
3.0
I knew Ramachandran from his regular appearances on WNYC's Radio Lab, and this series of lectures is written in the same accessible but professorial tone--replete with the same delightfully dorky jokes. As a scientist and a doctor, Ramachandran is indefatigably innovative and playful, incorporating aesthetics and philosophy into his investigations of bizarre neutoscientific phenomena.
scorpiopersephone's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting factual work on neurology convoluted by author’s unsubstantiated opinion and terrible quips.