The History of Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the science of the brain and the nervous system. This volume explores the early history of the field, including landmark case studies like that of the railroad worker Phineas Gage’s impalement by an iron rod, an accident he survived, though not without personality changes. Also examined are early studies of madness and genius, physical treatments for psychiatric disorders, and the categorization of neurological differences and disorders, such as autism. The emergence of cognitive science in the modern era is also covered, including theories of intelligence, learning, language development, machine intelligence, and consciousness. Loaded with color and archival images and graphics, this volume illuminates one of our greatest and most enduring mysteries, the human mind.