Amazon.com (ISBN 0789478390, Hardcover)

What makes the sky blue? Our brains, of course, and superstar neuroscientist Susan Greenfield helps us understand how they work in Brain Story, companion to the BBC series of the same name. Combining a strong sense of history with imaging techniques undreamed of even in the 1970s, she explores memory, emotion, reason, and consciousness with equal aplomb. Precise illustrations help clarify her points when appropriate, and interviews with scientists and neurological patients put human faces on otherwise abstract problems. Greenfield's knack for making scientific experiments and results compelling makes her one of the better science writers active around the turn of this century--and her subject matter is both innately interesting and particularly well-researched. Readers already familiar with the field will get a basic refresher course, but Brain Story is aimed at those with an interest but little scientific education who want to learn about themselves without getting a Ph.D. --Rob Lightner