An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain

I really like this book. It's one of those books you read for the share beauty of the language, for the resonance of the author's thoughts with your own, only phrased with infinitely more grace, intelligence and wisdom. If I could write one book I'd wish it to be this one. Ackerman takes the study of the brain from the technical description of a textbook, past the informal treatise of popularised science to the realm of poetry, where subtle and profound ideas about what it means to be human, the agony and joy of possessing minds as encompassing and creative as our own, and the miracle of having the world created before our very eyes. Please read this book if you have even the vaguest interest in the intricacies of your brain.

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.

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 show more brain, where the amazement comes from the actual information conveyed rather than the breathless hyping of the author. show less

Is this a work of science or poetry? For the purpose of this review, let's just assume that Ackerman is a scholar-artist. She somehow distills the hard, objective truths of science in order to yield vivid explanations about a range of existential questions regarding consciousness, human thought, memory, and the nature of identity.

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.

Dense? Yep. Somewhat random? Yep. I don’t care. Admittedly, you have to be in the right mood to take this on, but I was. I have been a rabid fan of Ackerman’s since A Natural History of the Senses and will give her a pass on lots of stuff.

Wonderful read! Poetic and informative as Ackerman's writing generally is.