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An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery…
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An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain (edition 2005)

by Diane Ackerman

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6571035,026 (3.97)7
The most ambitious and enlightening work to date from the bestselling author of A Natural History of the Senses, An Alchemy of Mind combines an artist's eye with a scientist's erudition to illuminate, as never before, the magic and mysteries of the human mind. Long treasured by literary readers for her uncommon ability to bridge the gap between art and science, celebrated scholar-artist Diane Ackerman returns with the book she was born to write. Her dazzling new work, An Alchemy of Mind, offers an unprecedented exploration and celebration of the mental fantasia in which we spend our days -- and does for the human mind what the bestselling A Natural History of the Senses did for the physical senses. Bringing a valuable female perspective to the topic, Diane Ackerman discusses the science of the brain as only she can: with gorgeous, immediate language and imagery that paint an unusually lucid and vibrant picture for the reader. And in addition to explaining memory, thought, emotion, dreams, and language acquisition, she reports on the latest discoveries in neuroscience and addresses controversial subjects like the effects of trauma and male versus female brains. In prose that is not simply accessible but also beautiful and electric, Ackerman distills the hard, objective truths of science in order to yield vivid, heavily anecdotal explanations about a range of existential questions regarding consciousness, human thought, memory, and the nature of identity.… (more)
Member:jalmdale
Title:An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain
Authors:Diane Ackerman
Info:Scribner (2005), Paperback, 320 pages
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An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain by Diane Ackerman

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Showing 1-5 of 9 (next | show all)
enjoyable. For some reason I found the author's commentary on her own health more intrusive in this book then I have in some of her others ( )
  cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |
Once again, Ackerman's broad research and delightful use of language creates an extremely readable journey through the mind. She knows, as we do, that there are still more questions than answers, but still deftly explores the science and research that provides a peek into the mysterious marvels of our human brain and mind. ( )
  CYGeeker | Sep 6, 2018 |
I enjoyed "A Natural History of the Senses" pretty well, so this book caught my interest in passing and I thought I'd give it a go. Perhaps it's a change of mood on my part, but I felt that in this book, the highly descriptive, lyrical style of Ackerman's prose, which seems to work in a book about the senses, felt irritatingly overblown in a book about the brain and neuroscience. I think I've got enough of a passing familiarity with the science of the brain to not find any surprising new information here: the information that is related, while interesting, is so heavily burdened with strained metaphors and overwritten turns of phrase that the reader trips over the writing on almost every page. There are plenty of better books about the brain, where the amazement comes from the actual information conveyed rather than the breathless hyping of the author. ( )
  theparsley | Mar 24, 2016 |
This 'lump on a stick', weighting less than three pounds, manages, in Ms. Ackerman's book, to become a very weighty subject. Her prose reads like poetry, and if you have never before read her work, as I had not (don't ask me why), this book is like your first taste of a great chef's cooking.

Ackerman has been called our finest literary interpreter of science and nature, and after reading this book, you'll never think of your brain in the same way again.
  twcox | Jan 14, 2015 |
Wonderful read! Poetic and informative as Ackerman's writing generally is.
  DK_Atkinson | Mar 31, 2013 |
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The most ambitious and enlightening work to date from the bestselling author of A Natural History of the Senses, An Alchemy of Mind combines an artist's eye with a scientist's erudition to illuminate, as never before, the magic and mysteries of the human mind. Long treasured by literary readers for her uncommon ability to bridge the gap between art and science, celebrated scholar-artist Diane Ackerman returns with the book she was born to write. Her dazzling new work, An Alchemy of Mind, offers an unprecedented exploration and celebration of the mental fantasia in which we spend our days -- and does for the human mind what the bestselling A Natural History of the Senses did for the physical senses. Bringing a valuable female perspective to the topic, Diane Ackerman discusses the science of the brain as only she can: with gorgeous, immediate language and imagery that paint an unusually lucid and vibrant picture for the reader. And in addition to explaining memory, thought, emotion, dreams, and language acquisition, she reports on the latest discoveries in neuroscience and addresses controversial subjects like the effects of trauma and male versus female brains. In prose that is not simply accessible but also beautiful and electric, Ackerman distills the hard, objective truths of science in order to yield vivid, heavily anecdotal explanations about a range of existential questions regarding consciousness, human thought, memory, and the nature of identity.

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