-
Access Our
Most Anticipated
Books of 2025!
Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain
by David Eagleman
Book Reviewed by:From the best-selling author of Incognito and Sum comes a revelatory portrait of the human brain, based on the most recent scientific discoveries about how it continually adapts, recreates, and formulates new ways of understanding the world we live in.
The magic of the brain is not found in its parts, but in the way those parts constantly reweave themselves in an electric, living fabric. To help us understand the nature and changing texture of that fabric, there is no more accomplished and accessible guide than renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman. With his hallmark clarity and enthusiasm, Eagleman reveals the myriad ways that the brain absorbs experience: developing, redeploying, organizing, and arranging the data it receives from the body's own absorption of external stimuli, which enables us to gain the skills, facilities, and practices that make us who we are.
Eagleman covers decades of the most important research into the functioning of the brain and also presents new discoveries from his own research: about synesthesia, dreaming, and wearable devices that are revolutionizing how we think about the five human senses. Brilliantly engaging, Livewired is as deeply informative as it is accessible.
As far-fetched as some of his ideas seem, Eagleman grounds all of his predictions in extensive research, citing dozens of experiments. And although the book can get technical in its descriptions of how the brain works, he makes good use of analogies and anecdotes to keep the material approachable regardless of the reader's prior knowledge. At some points, Eagleman gets too wrapped up in the "gee-whiz" factor of future possibilities. However, the author is a skilled storyteller and an assured guide. Fans of Oliver Sacks' narrative science will find much to enjoy in this neurological tale, as will anyone with an interest in the vast possibilities of our brains...continued
Full Review
(771 words)
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access,
become a member today.
(Reviewed by Lisa Bintrim).
In Livewired, David Eagleman is bullish on the prospects for human enhancement. He's not alone. In a 2016 Pew research report, David Masci notes that "humanity may be on the cusp of an enhancement revolution." Those in favor of human enhancement, generally known as transhumanists, believe, according to Masci, that "science will allow us to take control of our species' development, making ourselves and future generations stronger, smarter, healthier and happier."
Not everyone is on board with human enhancement, though. A Pew survey referenced in Masci's report found that around two-thirds of adults would not want to get a brain chip implanted in order to improve cognitive functioning. Moreover, philosophers, ethicists, religious ...
This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.
If you liked Livewired, try these:
by Walter Isaacson
Published 2022
Winner of the 2021 BookBrowse Nonfiction Award
The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a gripping account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.
by Frank Wilczek
Published 2022
One of our great contemporary scientists reveals the ten profound insights that illuminate what everyone should know about the physical world.
Russell Brand, Comedian & Activist
David Eagleman, the Jolly Sherlock Holmes of neuroscience, makes me believe that the universe of possibility required to create utopia is already housed in each of our brains. His knowledge and enthusiasm are intoxicating. His book demonstrates the principle about which he is writing; my mind has been changed by his words.
