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This book details one of the most important medical discoveries of recent times - that our brains are subject to change in function and structure throughout our lives. This goes against years of thought in the scientific community, which saw the brain developing until late childhood and then declining until death. Doidge, in this book gives us the science behind neuroplasticity (as it is now in common parlance) as well as case examples of people who have come back from seemingly irreversible brain trauma to live relatively normal lives.
This book was effective in its message and the case studies provided real-life examples of how the plasticity of the brain can operate in healing. I do feel that although Doidge admitted there was limits to the plasticity, his tone throughout the book seemed to suggest that neuroplasticity could be used to "cure" any number of things. I can understand why it was exaggerated of course, but I do think this toned down the accuracy of the book a little. I also thought there was far too much reliance on Freudian theory. Doidge rightly points out that Freud theorised neuroplasticity far prior to it becoming a serious scientific idea, however, Doidge talks up Freud throughout the book and there is little concentration on the well documented fact that Freud's own research methods were fraught with inaccuracies.
Overall I think this is a good book. It's fairly well written and it's full of interesting facts. I find the concept of neuroplasticity intriguing and I hope popular writing expands on it more in the next few years.
This book written by the travel writer who brought us adventures from around the world examines our own world as a whole, its surroundings and how it functions. Unlike the textbooks with colourful diagrams that most of us will have read at some point or other during school, he weaves a colourful, interesting and humourous picture of the world which would not exist as we know it if we changed it just a little, tiny, teeny bit. In other words, Bryson makes some of the most amazing and complicated findings in modern science understandable for those of us who can't be bothered reading Einstein's complicated theorems or the like.
The wealth of information in this book is simply astounding, I found that many facts I knew from taking science in high school, I did not know about the discovery of. Bryson brings up both the famous and the not-so-famous names as he explores each sector of discovery. He shows not only this expanse of information but also an obvious interest in what he is writing about and a dedication to understanding what many physicists would not be able to explain to you in normal English.
This is the third time I've read this book in about as many years, it never gets old and I always find myself remembering something I had previously forgotten. Unlike some of its explaining-science counterparts (including Zukav's The Dancing Wu Li Masters and Hawking's A Brief History of Time), it brings some humour into both science and the scientists who have uncovered some of the greatest mysteries. It also doesn't just cover physics, but a wide range of disciplines and the names which govern their discoveries, as well as the names which are never included despite their great discoveries.
Highly recommended to all and especially those of us who are geeks like myself and thrive off the sheer amount on knowledge in this book.
This book leaves me flawed; an absolutely amazing, astonishing, confusing and frightening book. I didn't know what to expect from the title, a lot of books I have read lately have been about "Zen" when really this book had not much to do with it at all, except maybe an overlying love.
As Pirsig says in the introduction, this book has nothing to do with either the concept of Zen Buddhism or Motorcycle Maintenance. It has more to do with art, philosophy, travelling and the science of understanding. The book covers a journey, on a motorcycle across North America with the author and his son. In between the journey are facets of a past self "Phaedrus" who seems at once interested and depressed by philosophy. His teachings at universities leave him disappointed by the apparent refusal of the other academics to explore Philosophy and most of all the concept of quality in what at first seem new and original ways but are later linked back to the teachings of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The explorations Phaedrus undertakes link the objective and the subjective, the scientific and the artistic under the concept of quality itself. His findings both distress him and encourage him to dig more deeply into the exploration of philosophy, of science and widely of humanity.
The other self, the author is plagued by memories of his former self when he goes to visit Chicago where he was once a teacher before the inevitable breakdown. It is difficult not to ruin the plot here. His relationship with his son is the most important throughout the book. His son who has been diagnosed as possible mentally ill seeks the adoration of his father, who he knew as Phaedrus. His continual confusion at the way his father treats him is merely a sign of the personality change he has seen in childhood. The book also refers back to the idea of motorcycle maintenance and links the philosophies of the pages to this concept. The interesting thing is Pirsig's outlook on Phaedrus' philosophies, he openly admits not agreeing with many of them but whether this is a protection of his mental state or something else is not obvious. The philosophy (of course) greatly interested me, especially the links back to scientists' and philosophers' ideas, some of which I was not even aware of.
Unlike most books of its kind, this does not seek to explain life, but rather follows the journey of one who does and one who is determined not to be stuck too far in the cycle again. Psychologically, it is unsure exactly what has happened to the author in the duration of his life. Something that seems less than the psychiatric disorders which the symptoms would suggest, but something that the author explains well, with the breakdown of philosophic ideas, and the rejection of more modern philosophy to see through his idea. Seen metaphorically as a breakdown, running into a brick wall, discovering that there is no more to discover, the array of impossibilities placed before Phaedrus which lead to the breakdown of his senses.
I highly recommend this book, I am keen to get the less popular sequel Lila for a further explanation of the ideas presented.
This author is genius, the one thing you can be sure of in his books is that they will never ever be predictable. The twists and turns of the book come out of nowhere and seem completely unlikely but they contribute something to the plot as well. The underlying theme of religion was what kept this book going, and it did so very well.
The book details the lives firstly of Amanda and John Paul Ziller, a young couple living in the sixties in the USA. Several other characters are introduced throughout but mainly Marx Marvelous, a scientist gone astray and Plucky Purcell, an ex-athlete joining in on the spectacular.
There's not much to say about this book that won't give it away. It deals primarily with the concepts of spirituality and philosophy and each character contributes in his/her own way. There is a convergence of ideas showing the similarities between religion and science collecting an interesting philosophy throughout the entire book that not so much combines the two as it debates and settles with neither one nor the other. And when I say debates, it is not debating...
Definitely more scandalous than The Da Vinci Code but less read. Mainly because a lot of people just can't see where the hell Tom Robbins is coming from but personally I can and I think his writing borders on excellent.
