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

Humans were 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, cultivates empathy, expands our understanding of the world around us, and even gives it new, vibrant colors. Why and how does this happen? The book by the outstanding neuroscientist Marianne Wolf is dedicated to the cognitive mechanisms that underlie the processes of reading. From Sumerian cuneiform to modern digital texts — Wolf immerses us in the history of reading development. The author explains in detail and accessible language what happens in the brain of each person 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. Together with this book, the reader embarks on a captivating journey through the history and neurobiology of reading — one of humanity's most remarkable "inventions."