In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind

A wonderful book that works both as a layman introduction to the new field of neurobiology and a Nobel prize scientist autobiography. Eric Kandel, having dabbled in psychiatry, turned to and devoted himself to the first unpromising new field of the science of the brain. He was present during the progression from physical/electrical to chemical to biochemical experimentation in discovering the mechanics of the brain. His topics are learning and memory which he examined on a genus of sea slugs called Aplysia. Lab work not patient interaction was his calling, which reveals itself in the book by a very mechanistic-deterministic approach. He is not squeamish in opening up cat brains, inflicting pain on his subjects to train them This show more disregard for the feelings of those not close to him fits into his conservative world view, which his liberal New Yorker relatives have trouble to understand.

Some of this harshness is certainly due to his lucky, unlucky personal history. Kandel's Jewish-Galician petit-bourgeois parents immigrated to Vienna where they owned a toy store in Vienna's 18th district (Today, this space is occupied by gourmet cheese store). Smart. sufficiently moneyed and with good local and US connections, the Kandels managed to escape from the worst of the Holocaust. While his parents and his brother suffered from the tragedy of the Second World War, it opened up a career for Eric Kandel, he probably would have been unable to follow in Vienna. Thanks to the support of New York's Jewish community, he received an excellent education and entry into elite universities. His understandable anger against Nazi Austria (and its tainted de-Nazification) results in a too positive retelling of Austrofascism (the regime that ruled Austria prior to the Nazi takeover). Just because the Austrofascists directed their anger against socialists (who often happened to be Jews) and not the members of the bourgeoisie (such as the Kandels) should not serve as an excuse to downplay its evilness. Apart from this small incomplete account of Austria's history, it is a tremendous read that highlights the joy of discovery and to seek large progress by examining the tiny and the simple things. show less

A exploration of the work of Eric Kandel told from an autobiographical perspective. Kandel seamlessly weaves together the personal and the scientific, and brings out the great web of influences and interactions which make science the most communal enterprise in the world.

One of the best scientific biographies that I’ve read.

Eric Kandel is a Nobel prize winning neuroscientist whose scientific career spans more than 50 years. In addition to being a creative and intelligent scientist he is an excellent writer, both as a story teller for the biographical sections and as a teacher in the scientific sections (a majority of the book). At times I was so captivated by his expository writing that I became impatient with his biography. At other times just the reverse occurred.

This is a large book that covers Eric’s life, from his youth in Vienna and his experience as a Jew to his acceptance of the Nobel prize. In between is a rich life that covers many of the key discoveries of modern neuroscience. The show more science is covered quite thoroughly so if you are looking for a “light” biography you will probably be disappointed.

I particularly enjoyed his insight into science as a human endeavor. After going over a particular episode in his life he would often draw conclusions about human nature and the enterprise of science that were very penetrating. Here is a mind that is not only able to do great science but is highly self-aware and able to communicate the lessons he has learned. show less

Had Eric Kandel been my Science teacher in High School, there's a chance I would've picked Medicine or Biochmistry as my BA, instead of English.

When regarded as Kandel's autobiography, detailing his progress, his origins and motivation to comprehend the biology of memory, it is a fascinating text.

When regarding as a biography that narrates the birth and development of a new science that combines Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Psychiatry and many specific sub-areas within these disciplines, it is simply a "must read". Even for someone who, like me, completely lacks scientific formation.

A unique blend of memoir and science describing Kandel’s (Nobel prize winner for Physiology or Medicine in 2000) quest for memory both at the personal and scientific level.
Kandel, a 9 year old Jew in Vienna in 1938, starts his book with his memories of Anschluss and Kristallnacht, describes the vividness of these memories and how years later they made him interested in why and how certain memories are remembered while others are lost. Throughout his career, he tackled brain and memory research at different levels from molecular biology to psychoanalysis, his most groundbreaking research being on Aplysia, a sea snail with very simple, yet molecularly big nervous system. All stages of this research are described exquisitely well in the show more book.

Extremely informative and enlightening on all levels. I could have lived without some of the personal account, though. In particular, I had a bit of a problem with the self-righteous tone of some of his personal tales.

Link: Kandel’s lecture on memory loss and aging
http://www.iwf.de/iwf/do/mkat/details.aspx?Signatur=C 12884 show less

Interesting book but a bit on the technical side. A decent amount of time spent on his childhood in Vienna, subsequent flight to the US. Really fairly horrifying depiction of the Austrians at the time of the occupation by Hitler. All things told, a good book but not quite what I was expecting.

This is a delightful book and a treat! I would love to meet Eric Kandel, because, as an electrical engineer, I am also interested in science and wish that I might find a way to afford a living as a neuroscientist so that I may explore an area that would be at the boundary of disciplines that Dr. Kandel is so fond of. I, too, have made new "discoveries" in the form of patent ideas that have come to me as I have moved in and out of integrated circuit (semiconductor) design (my specialty), hardware design and software engineering.

I have also had decades-worth of interest in neuroscience and read quite a bit on the side. Hence, I am serious about my desires. But with a new family with includes 2-year-old daughters, I would not yet be able show more to command the same salary that I have built over the years as an engineer. I have not given up, nonetheless and will continue to enjoy exploring the possibilities. In this book, Dr. Kandel also expresses some concerns about how his passion for science affected his family. It appears that he struggled to balance this passion with his love for family and had some success!

This book briefly touches on this challenge, but explores in much more depth Dr. Kandel's path from psychoanalyst to cellular/molecular neurobiologist (and how he still integrates the two and so much more and advocates such integration).

On this path, he made choices that ultimately led to his (shared) discovery of how short and long term memory works in all animals, by discovering how it works in the much simpler Aplysia (marine snail). By drawing on evolution, he was able to propose and test similar mechanisms in mammals and humans with the help of and research of other scientists and colleagues to whom he gives much description and credit. The book contains numerous easy-to-understand diagrams and details of the electrochemical reactions that make up essential brain functions.

Without sugar-coating the rivalries and challenges of competing and collaborating with other scientists, Dr. Kandel appears to make the best of such relationships in the advancement of science and ultimate benefit to humanity. His descriptions include a brief history of brain research and scientists that include greats from Cajal to Crick and so many more that I am doing an injustice by not mentioning them here. Dr. Kandel does a far better job giving credit!

On the subject of humanity, Dr. Kandel traces much of his early interest in human behavior to his tragic personal experience of the Nazi's in Austria, and explains his desire to have and help Austria "come clean" regarding its involvement with the Nazi's and terrible treatment of the Jews, even, as he explains, to this day.

He extends his humanitarian views to speculate on the near future abilities of science to predict, diagnose and treat ever more complex neurological conditions and the related ethical ramifications.
He even speculates on current and upcoming research on conciousness.

I had purchased this book "blindly" via the internet and had expected more of a dry, textbook-style discussion of memory. Instead, I got a warmly engaging book that gave me a bit of "everything", including my desired introduction to how memory works.
I do not think Eric Kandel could have done a better job in combining so many things in such an enjoyable way!

Kudos and congratulations to Eric Kandel! show less