The Idea of the Brain: A History

The brain is the most complicated object in the universe. Here's how we found out what we know so far. We've been trying to make sense of the link between our minds and our bodies since the very dawn of civilisation. Now the pace is hotting up. Join the biologist and historian Matthew Cobb (Life's Greatest Secret) to explore the weird theories, blasphemous experiments and terrifying operating theatres that got us here, to the cusp of revelation. Written with ambition and verve and rooted in a solid scientific explanation of the issues, The Idea of the Brain spans the centuries to reveal how the lives and works of a parade of philosophers, surgeons, mystics and neuroscientists have shaped the way we understand ourselves at the most profound level. From primitive dissections to the latest complex computational models of brain function, Cobb charts the course of this continuing quest, and prepares us for the astonishing discoveries to come.