Soul Made Flesh - Hardcover

Zimmer, Carl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0434010464 ISBN 13: 9780434010462

Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

We take it for granted that the brain is the seat of our minds, the part of the body that is most ourselves. 500 years ago, Europeans, if they thought about the brain at all, took it much less seriously - whether it was a refrigerator or a pump, it was seen as little more than a mechanism, its only products tears and snot. Among the revolutions of the seventeenth century was a revolution on the understanding of the brain and mind. It's central figure was a 17th century Englishman called Thomas Willis. To him, we owe our modern understanding of the miracle that is the human brain, the first dissections of the skull and the word 'psychology'. Zimmer's new book tells Willis' story, against the background of Civil War, regicide and Restoration. Set in London and Oxford, we see the context of Willis' researches and dissections, meet his famous friends, the founders of the Royal Society, Boyle, Hooke and Sir Christopher Wren, who attended Willis' dissections and sketched the results. Few stories in the history of science are as important and fascinating - and as little-known - as this one.

About this title

Review:

...Zimmer clarifies and illuminates the story of a fascinating thinker who too often gets lost among the crowd of colorful geniuses... -- Neal Stephenson

An intriguing portrait of a forgotten genius, and a vivid excursion into the extraordinary world of seventeenth-century experiment and thought. -- Jenny Uglow

Carl Zimmer bring to astonishingly vivid life a momentous turning point in science's history... -- John Horgan

Politics, religion, university life - all go to make up a compelling picture of the life of a great man -- Judith Flanders

The writing is vivid and literate, the story compelling, and the modern implications drawn out with skill and verve -- Steven Pinker

This is a must-read -- Michael Gazzaniga

Zimmer brings Willis and his intellectual journey to life - his prose, as always, is clear, vivid, and arresting. -- Oliver Sacks

Zimmer gives a remarkable, beautiful account of England's 'genius century,' and of the intertwined lives of Willis and his contemporaries... -- Oliver Sacks

‘Engagingly written’ -- Guardian

‘a fascinating read -- Nature

From the Publisher:

Praised by historians (Lisa Jardine, Judith Flanders, Ross King), novelists (Neal Stephenson) and scientists (Oliver Sacks, Steven Pinker), this is an acclaimed work of historical biography in the tradition of The Lunar Men.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0434010464
• ISBN 13: 9780434010462
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384