Description
Book SynopsisAre we our brains? How can you map the mind? Can brain scans read our minds?Based on Rob Newman's live stand-up show and new BBC Radio 4 series, his thought-provoking new book explores the scientific breakthroughs that have turned received ideas of brain science upside down.After imagining volunteering for a brain-imaging experiment meant to locate the part of the brain that lights up when you're in love, comedian Robert Newman emerged with more questions than answers.In Neuropolis Newman argues that the current claim that the brain is just a complicated computer derives from science, but from a combination of philosophical stowaways and a version of evolutionary biology that owes little to Darwin. He questions why brain science is devoted to such a peculiarly reductionist world view, when really exciting advances in neuroscience go untold, such as awe-inspiring discoveries about the origins of memory in ancient oceans. He also shows that our brains are inextricably and profoundly inte
Trade ReviewPraise for Rob Newman:
‘Dissing bad science, capitalists and Brian Cox, Newman’s low-octane cabinet of neuroscientific curiosities has nonconformist bite’ Guardian
‘A fascinating and highly original book, the sort you pick up idly and then discover that two hours have gone by’ The Spectator
‘Newman combines proper scientific argument with dazzling shafts of wit’ The Times
'The Brain Show is a delight' The Daily Telegraph
‘Scalpel-sharp analysis … very funny’ The Psychologist
‘Hilarious … delightfully eccentric … skilfully done’ Nature
‘He is one amazing comedian’ Time Out
