An Anatomy of Thought: The Origin and Machinery of the Mind

by Ian Glynn

Overview

Drawing on a dazzling array of disciplines—physiology, neurology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and philosophy—Ian Glynn explains virtually every aspect of the workings of the brain, unlocking the mysteries of the mind.
Glynn writes with exceptional clarity as he illuminates the mechanics of nerve messages; the functioning of sensory receptors; the processes by which the brain sees, tastes, and smells; the seats of language, memory, and emotions. The breadth of Glynn's erudition is astonishing, as he ranges from parallel processing in computers to the specialization of different regions of the brain (illustrated with fascinating instances of the bizarre effects of localized brain damage). He explains the different types of memory, traces the path of information that leads to emotional responses, and engages in a discussion of language that ranges from Noam Chomsky to Hawaiian pidgin.
No other single volume has captured the full expanse of our knowledge of consciousness and the brain. A work of unequaled authority and eloquence, this book promises to be a new landmark of scientific writing.
"Monumental."—The Observer
"Glynn's erudition is astonishing...a hugely enjoyable intellectual journey."—Nature

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195158038
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/10/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Ian Glynn is a Professor and Former Head of the Physiological Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England. Renowned for his work on the sodium pump, the molecular process that charges the brain's batteries, he is a fellow of the Royal Society and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	VII
I CLEARING THE GROUND
1 What this book is about	3
2 The failure of the common-sense view	7
3 Evolution by natural selection	17
4 `The Descent of Man'	40
5 The origin of life	62
II NERVES AND NERVOUS SYSTEMS
Introduction	83
6 The nature of nerves	85
7 The nerve impulse	106
8 Encoding the message	119
9 Interactions between nerve cells	123
10 `The doors of perception'	138
11 A Cook's Tour of the brain	164
III LOOKING AT SEEING
Introduction	191
12 Illusions	193
13 Disordered seeing with normal eyes	201
14 Opening the black box	223
15 Natural computers and artificial brains	242
IV TALKING ABOUT TALKING
Introduction	259
16 In the steps of the `diagram-makers'	261
17 Chomsky and after	288
18 Monkeypuzzles	296
V THINKING ABOUT THINKING
Introduction	313
19 Memory	315
20 The emotions	334
21 Planning and attention	351
VI THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND — OR MINDING THE PHILOSOPHERS
Introduction	367
22 The `mind-body problem' — a variety of approaches	369
23 The `mind-body problem' — consciousness and qualia	391
24 Free will and morality	400
Epilogue	411
Notes	415
Index	449

Editorial Reviews

"Glynn, a professor of physiology and head of the Physiological Laboratory at Cambridge, offers a comprehensive summary of what we know about the brain....Using the mechanisms involved in vision and speech as models, Glynn skillfully describes various neurological deficiencies that can lead to 'disordered seeing' and problems with the use of language. He carefully distinguishes what we know through experimental evidence from what we know through the observation of patients with neurological damage....An Anatomy of Thought is appropriate for most academic libraries."—Library Journal

"Glynn's monumental book is a kind of grand tour of the great jelly, beginning with the origins of life some four billion years ago and pursuing the evolution of homo sapiens."—he Observer

"If every other book on the mind were to vanish overnight and all that remained were this one remarkable compendium, the lucky reader could still soon become the best-educated layman there has ever been."—Nicholas Humphrey, author of A History of the Mind

"Reading it from beginning to end, as one should, one emerges with a clear understanding of the biological issues that must be addressed to offer any satisfactory description of the brain, its functions and functioning, its sources of knowledge and its role in the ever-continuing process of evolution, not only physical but also social and intellectual.... Glynn's erudition is astonishing and it makes these pages a hugely enjoyable intellectual journey, full of illuminating anecdotes that shed light not only on the discoveries but also on the scientists themselves....a truly biological book about the most perfect product of biological evolution: the human brain. It is this emphasis on biology that sets this book apart and makes it a gem that would have thrilled Kant and Schopenhauer. It should thrill modern readers even more."—Semir Zeki, Nature (British)

From the Publisher

Glynn's book has no ready, but questionable, solutions to the problems of the mind or of consciousness or their relationship to brain activity; neither is it assertive or arrogant. It is, instead, a biological treatise on the brain and it does not shy from discussing problems of the self, of consciousness, of creativity and of free will, because any serious consideration of the biology of the brain inevitably leads to these....Glynn's erudition is astonishing and it makes these pages a hugely enjoyable intellectual journey, full of illuminating anecdotes that shed light not only on the discoveries but also on the scientists themselves.
— Nature

Semir Zeki