The Brain

The Story of You

By: David Eagleman

Narrated by: David Eagleman

This is the story of how your life shapes your brain and how your brain shapes your life. Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, the brain fashions the rich narratives of your reality and your identity.

Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman for a journey into the questions at the heart of our existence. What is reality? Who are 'you'? How do you make decisions? Why does your brain need other people? How is technology poised to change what it means to be human?

In the course of his investigations, Eagleman guides us through the world of extreme sports, criminal justice, facial expressions, genocide, brain surgery, gut feelings, robotics, and the search for immortality.

Strap in for a whistle-stop tour into the inner cosmos. In the infinitely dense tangle of billions of brain cells and their trillions of connections, something emerges that you might not have expected to see in there: you.

©2015 Canongate Books (P)2015 Canongate Books Ltd

Critic reviews

"Entertaining and profound: page-turning neuroscience from a bit of a genius." (Guardian)

"Clear, engaging and thought-provoking." (Nature)

"The posterboy of neuroscience with ideas that will stretch your mind." (Observer)

Excellent summary of neurology for the layman.

I really enjoyed this book. The author delivers exactly what he promised; a high level review of this fascinating science that touches biology, physics and philosophy without going too far down any particular rabbit holes.

He does repeat himself just s little, now and again, and sometimes he labours a point when I wish he would spend more time on something like consciousness, but in just 5 hours of listening he delivers plenty of food for thought, and springboards to go diving off into related topics.

The performance is enthusiastic without taking itself too seriously, and holds your interest all the way along.

A good one - recommended.

Very good indeed.

Up dated information very well explained with a contagious enthusiasm. I would listen to it again.

5 star

A fantastic journey, we should spread this knowledge as far as possible to reduce the ignorance and violence

Amazing

Brain science is extremely interesting and important. You will learn something about the reality her. I promise.

Absolutely incredible!

The book is just so engaging its hard to explain! Eagleman does such a wonderful job at narrating his own book that i previously thought he was a professional voice actor! I will defenitely read more from him and feel like I've learned such meaningful and lasting information from this book.
Thank you!

Must read

It stands amongst the likes of “Thinking Fast and Slow” and “Sapiens” that must be read by each individual on Earth. I now want to watch the PBS tv series, “Brain with Dr David Eagleman” and then order and read the book to completely absorb the amazing content.

The book I was looking for

This book opens the blinds of a luminous window. You get to see all the wonderful things about your brain and what it can do. The book also raises questions that encourage you to think. This is the book you are looking for.

Amazing and easy to understand

Book easy to hear. Exciting content from the investigation on brain, great narration by author

Love it!!

It's so easy to understand, jet you know its merely the beginning of the studies on the brain, is awesome

Between fascinating and superficial

What made the experience of listening to The Brain the most enjoyable?

The stories about people with some sort of brain malfunction or the reported psychological tests gave insight into how our minds work as an individual, within a group or between groups. The speculations about future brain-environment interactions, artifical intelligences and transhumanism were one of the best parts of this book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

From stupid molecules to cosmic consciousness.

Any additional comments?

For most parts, the book felt like a list of different kinds of brain phenomenon with superficial explanations on them. I was already aware of many of the topics in this book, so I didn't get as much new information as someone else might get. Still, this audiobook worked nicely as a catalyst for thinking about brains and minds while taking walks.