The Infinite Story of Reading. Proust, the Squid, and the Science of the Reading Brain

A person was not born to read, yet this skill has changed the trajectory of our development. The ability to write and read allows us to record history, develops imagination, nurtures empathy, broadens our understanding of the surrounding world, and... even gives it new, bright colors. Why and how does this happen? The book by outstanding neurobiologist Marianne Wolf is dedicated to the cognitive mechanisms underlying the processes of reading. From Sumerian cuneiform to modern digital texts, Wolf immerses us in the history of the development of reading. The author explains in detail and in an accessible way what happens in every person's brain when they read or are just mastering the skill of reading, how what we read changes us, and when the brain is unable to learn to read. Along with this book, the reader will embark on an exciting journey through the history and neurobiology of reading—one of humanity’s most remarkable “inventions.”