Daniel J. Levitin
Gazzaniga, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara (and one of the inventors of the field), takes us on a lively tour through the latest research on brain evolution.
—The New York Times
Publishers Weekly
As wide-ranging as it is deep, and as entertaining as it is informative, the latest offering from UC-Santa Barbara neuroscientist Gazzaniga (The Ethical Brain) will please a diverse array of readers. He is adept at aiding even the scientifically unsophisticated to grasp his arguments about what separates humans from other animals. His main premise is that human brains are not only proportionately larger than those of other primates but have a number of distinct structures, which he explores along with evolutionary explanations for their existence. For instance, a direct outgrowth of the size and structure of the human brain, along with their origins in the complexity of human social groups, was the development of language, self-awareness and ethics. (Gazzaniga offers some surprising comments on the evolution of religion and its relation to morals.) Throughout, Gazzaniga addresses the nature of consciousness, and by comparing the intellectual capabilities of a host of animals (chimps, dogs, birds and rats, among others) with those of human babies, children and adults, he shows what we all share as well as what humans alone possess. (July)
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Library Journal
Where the brain is concerned, does size matter? Until recently, research into the evolution of hominid species into Homo sapiens has focused on physical features, with the study of cognitive evolution limited to speculating how brain size affected psychosocial capacities. Advances in modern neuroscience reveal that the unique capabilities of the human mind are only possible through much more complex and subtle differences than just size. Neuroscientist Gazzaniga (The Ethical Brain) discusses the brain functions underlying the defining characteristics of what makes us human: arts, ethics, empathy, conceptual thinking, and self-awareness. The first three parts of his book ("The Basics of Human Life," "Navigating the Social World," and "The Glory of Being Human") explore the neural mechanisms that make humans different from other species. The final section, "Beyond Current Constraints," speculates freely on future brain evolution, both natural and technology-enhanced. Although the text can be a bit dense in places, readers attracted to this subject are generally more than willing to invest the neural energy required to follow it and will be rewarded for doing so. Recommended for academic and larger public library science collections.
—Gregg Sapp
Kirkus Reviews
One grand search engine for all the qualities that make Homo sapiens different from other species. Cognitive neuroscientist Gazzaniga (Psychology/Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; The Ethical Brain, 2005, etc.) knows his stuff-and a lot of other people's stuff too. The elegant popularizer trots out study after study in brain science, emphasizing evolutionary and developmental psychology as well as his own research on split-brain patients and others with neurological lesions. No surprise, then, to find him weighing human traits for their adaptive value in terms of safety, survival and reproduction, especially qualities that promote socializing and cooperation. Indeed, he sometimes argues too much for an adaptive value for well nigh every human feature he discusses. Gazzaniga describes how lesions reveal the brain's organization into myriad modules specialized for, say, recognizing faces (located in the right hemisphere). He argues for a left hemisphere "interpreter" who's in charge-making sense of all the inputs, but ready to make up stories if need be. This seems to put him in the camp of dualism, which supposes there is something else behind the physical substance of brain tissue that accounts for the mind; though the idea's been around since Descartes, it remains debatable. The author celebrates the unique richness of the human neocortex, more complex than in any other animal. By inference, the cortex and its extensive connectivity account for art, music, analytical thinking (and thus science), self-awareness, imagination and our ability to pretend and to evoke the past and future. Gazzaniga also declares that humans are unique in their ability to project the mental states of others:to understand that behind their behavior are minds like ours that have desires and beliefs. To his credit, he discusses controversies and conflicting studies in all these areas, as well as in the origin of language, consciousness, morality and religion. Credit him too with a wonderful final section on current research on robotics and gene manipulation. A savvy, witty guide to neuroscience today.
Saturday Evening Post
"Readers of Gazzaniga’s intriguing insights into the realm of neuroscience are certain to have their consciousnesses pleasantly piqued in numerous ways."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Sweeping, erudite and humorous. . . If you are looking for one book that gives you a Cook’s Tour of the human brain, where it came from and where it is heading, this would be an excellent choice."
CNBC.com
"In this book, Gazzaniga uses science AND some truly engaging, witty writing to explain us to us."
New York Times Book Review
"Gazzaniga, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara (and one of the inventors of the field), takes us on a lively tour through the latest research on brain evolution."
Washington Examiner
"As wide-ranging as it is deep, and as entertaining as it is informative, the latest offering from University of California at Santa Barbara neuroscientist Gazzaniga (The Ethical Brain) will please a diverse array of readers."
Titlepage.tv
"Wonderfully smart and often funny...I recommend [HUMAN] highly. This book combines succinct views of how we became the amazing animals that we are, the biological bases of morality, and some atonishing futurology."
New York Sun
"The book is an intellectual romp through the cognitive neurosciences . . . a rich testimony to the incredible accomplishments of the human brain in coming to understand itself."
Robert Bazell
"Brilliantly written and utterly fascinating. Gazzaniga stands as a giant among neuroscientists, for both the quality of his research and his ability to communicate it to a general public with infectious enthusiasm."
Daniel Henninger
"One could ask for no better guide... compelling, wide-ranging tour."
Floyd E. Bloom
"[Readers] will enjoy the science he unravels."
Doctor
- Steven E. Hyman
"Michael Gazzaniga shares his considerable insight... compelling, and at the same time, clear."
V.S. Ramachandran
"Gazzaniga is one of the founders of the field of cognitive neuroscience... full of dazzling insights... engaging."—
Steven Pinker
"...[A] shimmering new book...[Gazzaniga] explains the latest findings from the sciences of mind and brain in a coherent and satisfying narrative. This is the place to look to learn about our best scientific understanding of what it means to be human."
