The Brain: A Scientist's Tale. The Winding Path to Understanding How Our Mind Works, Where Memory is Stored and Thoughts are Formed

The human desire to understand the brain has led to major discoveries in science and medicine. In his captivating book, renowned science popularizer Matthew Cobb discusses how thorny this path has been, as often the road to a high-tech present has been strewn with oddballs who conducted unnecessary or cruel experiments and their victims.

The book is divided into three parts: "The Past," "The Present," and "The Future," in which the author immerses us in the history of studying the most mysterious organ. He recounts the dreadful experiments conducted by pioneering scientists on humans in the pursuit of understanding its structure and functions. The first part describes the period from ancient times when the heart (not the brain) was considered the source of thoughts and emotions. In the second part, the author explains that today almost all scientific research and developments are controlled by private companies, and outlines the dangers posed by this. In the concluding part, Matthew Cobb speculates on the direction researchers will take in the near future.

For despite incredible scientific breakthroughs, we still have only a vague understanding of how the brain works.