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Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life


by Sandra Aamodt, Sam Wang

List Price: $24.95
Price: $16.47
You Save: $8.48 (34%)
Available: Usually ships in 24 hours
Sales Rank: 3308
Studio: Bloomsbury USA
Binding: Hardcover
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: March 04, 2008
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA


EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Product Description
You: The Owner’s Manual for the brain: an expert, comprehensive, and lively guide that makes sense of all the latest scientific findings about how your brain really works.

We are using our brains at practically every moment of our lives, and yet few of us have the first idea how they work. Much of what we think we know comes from folklore: that we only use 10 percent of our brain, or that drinking kills brain cells. These and other brain myths are wrong, as demonstrated by the work of neuroscientists who have spent decades studying this complex organ. However, most of what scientists have learned is not known to the world outside their laboratories.

In this readable, lively book, Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang dispel common myths about the brain and provide a comprehensive, useful overview of how it really works. In its pages, you’ll discover how to cope with jet lag, how your brain affects your religion, and how men’s and women’s brains differ. With witty, accessible prose decorated by charts, trivia, quizzes, and illustrations, this book is great for quick reference or extended reading.

Both practical and fun, Welcome to Your Brain is perfect whether you want to impress your friends or simply use your brain better.


CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 17 reviews)

A decent overview of the subject, but not detailed enough for me  
For some reason I was expecting a more in-depth treatment of the subject than this book actually delivers. The introduction basically brands the book as a good "coffee table book" - easy reading. And it does achieve this goal to some extent. It gives a good overview of how the brain functions, but for my taste it is a bit heavy on the "myth busting" sidepanels and too light on the fine details regarding the electro/chemical/physical mechanics of how the brain converts sensory input into action. Basically I bought the wrong book, so I won't knock down the stars because of this.

Incidentally, two things really bugged me: 1) the authors launched into an attack on Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett and "militant" atheism for no apparent good reason (yes, Richard Dawkins is my hero!) and 2) whenever the authors get into evolutionary theory regarding why the brain is the way it is, they speak in terms of species-level selection rather than individual-level selection, which is inaccurate and a bit lazy (and yes, Dawkins has spoiled me on this point).
July 15, 2008

Great Book for Overview  
I bought this book to use with my daughter who is a home schooled high school senior. The book is very informative and well written. The chapters are not too long but don't feel condensed. It is humorous too ! It also helps to shed light on a lot of myths that most people take for granted as being "facts". I learned a lot. I recommend it to anyone.
July 09, 2008

Fairly Bland  
"Welcome to Your Brain" is a fairly bland skimpy overview that, while offering minor insights here and there (eg. "We use only 10% of our brains" is a myth. There is no evidence that playing classical music for babies makes them more intelligent.), but dodges major controversies (eg. Race vs. Intelligence, sex differences) and even ignores some key points - eg. importance of chemical levels to proper brain functioning. The result is a pedantic slog through too many pages.
July 05, 2008

Welcome to Your Brain  
This book is FANTASTIC! A great read! Stimulating! If you use your brain on a daily basis, buy this book!
July 04, 2008

Welcome to your brain  
You must read this book if you want to know more about your brain. It really gives you information about your everyday life.
July 04, 2008


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