What do You think about We Are Our Brains: From The Womb To Alzheimer's (2014)?
A fascinating book, written by an important neuroscientist. The book is reasonably accessible for those with some background and an interest in psychology and neuroscience. A thought-provoking read, with the emphasis on the provocative.The style is peculiar, and I wonder if the work was originally planned as a book, or whether it was assembled post-hoc from existing articles and presentations. Some case studies and opinions are mentioned several times throughout the book. There would be nothing wrong with citing the same case study several times, but Dr Swaab repeats himself almost word for word, and this is jarring to the reader. A book on such a profound subject that makes such far-reaching claims and challenges people's fondly held beliefs in such an opinionated and controversial manner, needs to be written with the utmost care, and its scientific claims needs to be substantiated very carefully. A preponderance of Dutch studies are cited - nothing wrong with that, but the book ends up appearing less objective than it should be. This may be because the author was trying to reach a wider audience, but as a book aimed at a general audience, I do not believe it succeeds.Read it for the information it offers and refrain from engaging in mental debate with the very opinionated author.
—Jerny
This book on the brain covers its development from womb to tomb and explains almost everything that can go wrong. The fact that mental dysfunction can cause bizarre and sometimes tragic behavior is unsettling especially the fact that any one of us could succumb to one or more of the many ways brain function can go wrong. In addition brain science according to the author doesn't give us much hope beyond the grave. The author delivers the bad news in a fascinating way that elucidates how this marvelous organ works. He often says contrarian things which I tend to like. I always want to hear something new. He says physical exercise is probably detrimental and if one can eat healthy and avoid obesity it is probably better to avoid exercise. The book has other heresies in it but that one is probably the biggest. The author goes on hot topics like the brain and spirituality and religion. He takes a new Atheist stance on these topics so the religiously inclined have fair warning here. The book is packed with wonderful tidbits on the brain and it is well written. I liked it a lot.
—mstenberg
Swaab is een egocentrische zot
—nadia
