Early studies of the functions of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike-strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, lobotomies, horrendous accidents-and see how the victim coped. In many cases survival was miraculous, and observers could only marvel at the transformations that took place afterward, altering victims' personalities. An injury to one section can leave a person unable to recognize loved ones; some brain trauma can even make you a pathological gambler, pedophile, or liar. But a few scientists realized that these injuries were an opportunity for studying brain function at its extremes. With lucid explanations and incisive wit, Sam Kean explains the brain's secret passageways while recounting forgotten stories of common people whose struggles, resiliency, and deep humanity made modern neuroscience possible.

    Was late antiquity therefore merely a time of decline? In this vibrant and compact introduction, Gillian Clark shedslight on the concept of late antiquity and the events of its time, showing that this was in fact a period of great transformation. Late antiquity saw Roman law codified, Christian creeds formulated, the Talmud compiled, and the Qur'an composed. If the Goths sacked the city of Rome, the Vandalsbuilt churches in Africa and Attila the Hun received an embassy from Constantinople. Anthony of Egypt and Simeon Stylites offered spectacular new models of holiness, while Augustine and Basil and Benedict devised rules for monastic communities. Late antique artists produced the mosaics of Ravennaand the first dome of Hagia Sophia. And it was also the period when emperors Diocletian in the third century and Justinian in the sixth enacted extensive and much-needed reforms of government.

    Have you ever found yourself alone with your thoughts? Have you ever been asked if the glass is half full or half empty? Do you wonder what true happiness is or how to attain it? Or maybe nothing really matters if everything is just an illusion or a dream? These ideas are some of the central questions of philosophical inquiry that have engaged, troubled and exasperated some of the greatest minds throughout the history of human civilization, provoking argument and debate in an attempt to broaden the horizons of human thought.Author Alain Stephen attempts to demystify some of these key questions by tracing their origins in the writings of prominent thinkers through the ages, from the colonnades of ancient Greece to the intellectual salons of twentieth-century France, and show how these ideas and concepts developed over time.Why We Think the Things We Think provides plenty of food for thought for both the amateur philosopher and enlightened thinker to digest.

    Opening with a concise introduction to the history of the problem of free will--andits place in the history of philosophy--the book then turns to contemporary debates and theories about free will, determinism, and related subjects like moral responsibility, coercion, compulsion, autonomy, agency, rationality, freedom, and more. Classical compatibilist and new compatibilisttheories of free will are considered along with the latest incompatibilist or libertarian theories and the most recent skeptical challenges to free will. Separate chapters are devoted to the relation of free will to moral responsibility and ethics; to modern science; and to religious questions aboutpredestination, divine foreknowledge, and human freedom. Numerous down-to-earth examples and challenging thought experiments enliven the text. The book is an ideal addition to introduction to philosophy, metaphysics, and free will courses.

    At the center of it all is a god: Nature, with a capital N.Academic and journalist Alan Levinovitz's exploration of this faith takes readers deep into Peruvian jungle, on a tour of a high-tech Dutch greenhouse, wolf-watching in Yellowstone National Park, and into a controversial "natural" healing retreat. His interdisciplinary approach yields a uniquely comprehensive picture of nature worship, hidden in plain sight: in refrigerators and hospitals, in sports arenas and economic theories. Natural is the first holistic analysis of Nature's influence, along with a reckoning of the sacrifices made in its name--the lives lost, the guilt suffered, the facts distorted. Although natural has become a synonym for holy, the reality is that the so-called "appeal to nature" fallacy can be extremely dangerous. Far from being a path to earthly paradise, Nature's supposed laws have routinely stood in the way of genuine progress. "Unnatural" sexual activity is tabooed; the goodness of "natural markets" is used to rationalize the elimination of government regulations. Thankfully, there's a solution. Abandoning the equation between nature and God allows the real natural world to comes into focus: a place where perfection, purity, and simplicity are in shorter supply than we tell ourselves in stories, yet human goodness and ingenuity are empowered to take their place. Nature has immense value, and acting naturally is often a good thing. But, as Levinovitz shows, humans are unnatural animals, and they shouldn't be afraid to embrace our dual nature. Only when we stop worshipping nature can we learn to love what's natural--and stop hating ourselves in the process.

    This network of exchange emerged along the borders between agricultural China and the steppe nomads during the Han Dynasty(206BCE-220CE), in consequence of the inter-dependence and the conflicts of these two distinctive societies. In their quest for horses, fragrances, spices, gems, glassware, and other exotics from the lands to their west, the Han Empire extended its dominion over the oases around the Takla MakanDesert and sent silk all the way to the Mediterranean, either through the land routes leading to the caravan city of Palmyra in Syria desert, or by way of northwest India, the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea, landing at Alexandria. The Silk Road survived the turmoil of the demise of the Han and RomanEmpires, reached its golden age during the early middle age, when the Byzantine Empire and the Tang Empire became centers of silk culture and established the models for high culture of the Eurasian world. The coming of Islam extended silk culture to an even larger area and paved the way for anexpanded market for textiles and other commodities. By the 11th century, however, the Silk Road was in decline because of intense competition from the sea routes of the Indian Ocean.Using supply and demand as the framework for analyzing the formation and development of the Silk Road, the book examines the dynamics of the interactions of the nomadic pastoralists with sedentary agriculturalists, and the spread of new ideas, religions, and values into the world of commerce, thusillustrating the cultural forces underlying material transactions. This effort at tracing the interconnections of the diverse participants in the transcontinental Silk Road exchange will demonstrate that the world had been linked through economic and ideological forces long before the modern era.

    Rick battled depression, anxiety, and PTSD as the chaos, neglect, and unpredictability of his childhood seemed to doom him to follow in his mother's footsteps.Well into adulthood, Rick stumbled through unemployment and divorce, using drugs and alcohol to numb the pain until he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Miraculously, though, he overcame the odds and today is a happy husband and father. How did this happen? Rick's answer is this: "It was the Lord."A message of hope to those who are drowning from an undeserved childhood, Leaving Cloud 9 speaks to millions who grew up poor, feeling ignored and hopeless, and who need the healing power of God. This indelibly American story conveys the steadfast love of Jesus and his power to deliver us from the most devastating of pasts.

    We are using our brains at practically every moment of our lives, and yet few of us have the first idea how they work. Much of what we think we know comes from folklore: that we only use 10 percent of our brain, or that drinking kills brain cells. These and other brain myths are wrong, as demonstrated by the work of neuroscientists who have spent decades studying this complex organ. However, most of what scientists have learned is not known to the world outside their laboratories.In this readable, lively book, Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang dispel common myths about the brain and provide a comprehensive, useful overview of how it really works. In its pages, you'll discover how to cope with jet lag, how your brain affects your religion, and how men's and women's brains differ. With witty, accessible prose decorated by charts, trivia, quizzes, and illustrations, this book is great for quick reference or extended reading.Both practical and fun, Welcome to Your Brain is perfect whether you want to impress your friends or simply use your brain better.

    The outcome was unexpected—when Henry awoke, he could no longer form new memories, and for the rest of his life would be trapped in the moment. But Henry’s tragedy would prove a gift to humanity. As renowned neuroscientist Suzanne Corkin explains in Permanent Present Tense, she and her colleagues brought to light the sharp contrast between Henry’s crippling memory impairment and his preserved intellect. This new insight that the capacity for remembering is housed in a specific brain area revolutionized the science of memory. The case of Henry—known only by his initials H. M. until his death in 2008—stands as one of the most consequential and widely referenced in the spiraling field of neuroscience. Corkin and her collaborators worked closely with Henry for nearly fifty years, and in Permanent Present Tense she tells the incredible story of the life and legacy of this intelligent, quiet, and remarkably good-humored man. Henry never remembered Corkin from one meeting to the next and had only a dim conception of the importance of the work they were doing together, yet he was consistently happy to see her and always willing to participate in her research. His case afforded untold advances in the study of memory, including the discovery that even profound amnesia spares some kinds of learning, and that different memory processes are localized to separate circuits in the human brain. Henry taught us that learning can occur without conscious awareness, that short-term and long-term memory are distinct capacities, and that the effects of aging-related disease are detectable in an already damaged brain.Undergirded by rich details about the functions of the human brain, Permanent Present Tense pulls back the curtain on the man whose misfortune propelled a half-century of exciting research. With great clarity, sensitivity, and grace, Corkin brings readers to the cutting edge of neuroscience in this deeply felt elegy for her patient and friend.

    Single bound volume contains:AwakeningsA Leg to Stand OnThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatSeeing VoicesFrom the back cover:This special Quality Paperback Book Club edition collects four superb books by Oliver Sacks that, as the author says in his preface, "form a sort of series, or evolution." They also form a canon of the most fascinating, enlightening, and inspiring medical writing of our age.

    We take for granted that we can remember, feel emotion, navigate, empathize, and understand the world around us, but how would our lives change if these abilities were dramatically enhanced--or disappeared overnight?Helen Thomson has spent years traveling the world, tracking down incredibly rare brain disorders. In Unthinkable she tells the stories of nine extraordinary people she encountered along the way. From the man who thinks he's a tiger to the doctor who feels the pain of others just by looking at them to a woman who hears music that’s not there, their experiences illustrate how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some cases, brilliant and alarming ways.Story by remarkable story, Unthinkable takes us on an unforgettable journey through the human brain. Discover how to forge memories that never disappear, how to grow an alien limb, and how to make better decisions. Learn how to hallucinate and how to make yourself happier in a split second. Find out how to avoid getting lost, how to see more of your reality, even how exactly you can confirm you are alive. Think the unthinkable.

    Their task? To evaluate the effectiveness of a marketing campaign for a grooming product that retails for less than $15.00."The Brain Sell," praised as the new "Hidden Persuaders," is the inside story of how our rapidly evolving understanding of the brain plays into the advertising, marketing, and retailing industry. With the emergence of Big Data mining, the "persuasion industry" is more prominent than ever. David Lewis, PhD, internationally renowned researcher, brings science to shoppingmapping the brain and the body to explore the sensitivities in our minds and discover how we select and buy. Gone are the days of traditional salesmanshipin the United Kingdom and United States alone, $313 billion is spent annually on subliminal messaging and measuring consumers' subconscious reactions to the color of a child's toy, the smell of a store's interior, or the font of the smallest letter on a soup can. Lewis repeatedly surprises with secrets from the advertising and marketing industries, revealing the scientific strategies used to evaluate and manipulate consumer response. An enlightening read for marketers and advertisers and an urgently important one for anyone who considers themselves a "smart shopper." "The Brain Sell" shows that even after the product is on the shelf and the commercial is over, the sales pitch goes on.David Lewis, PhD, a neuropsychologist, is founder and director at the independent research consultancy Mindlab International based at the University of Sussex. Additionally, he is a psychologist, an international lecturer, and acclaimed author, most recently of "Impulse" (Harvard University Press). Dubbed the "father of neuromarketing" for his pioneering studies of analyzing brain activity for research and commercial purposes, he currently specializes in noninvasive techniques for measuring human responses under real life conditions."

    Our jaws are getting smaller and our teeth crooked and crowded, creating not only aesthetic challenges but also difficulties with breathing. Modern orthodontics has persuaded us that braces and oral devices can correct these problems. While teeth can certainly be straightened, what about the underlying causes of this rapid shift in oral evolution and the health risks posed by obstructed airways?Sandra Kahn and Paul R. Ehrlich, a pioneering orthodontist and a world-renowned evolutionist, respectively, present the biological, dietary, and cultural changes that have driven us toward this major health challenge. They propose simple adjustments that can alleviate this developing crisis, as well as a major alternative to orthodontics that promises more significant long-term relief. Jaws will change your life. Every parent should read this book.

    The result is a nuanced portrayal of a multifarious western world that was sharply divided between its northern and southern aspects. By also integrating the histories of the Islamic and Byzantine world into the main narrative, the text brings new life to the continuum of interaction--social, cultural, and intellectual, as well as commercial--that existed among all three societies. In addition, it describes ways in which the medieval Latin West attempted to understand the unified and rational structure of the human cosmos, which they believed existed beneath the observable diversity and disorder of the world. This effort to re-create a human ordering of unity through diversity provides an essential key to understanding medieval Europe and the ways in which it regarded and reacted to the worlds around it. The Worlds of Medieval Europe is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in medieval history, Western civilization, the history of Christianity, and Muslim-Christian relations. It also serves as an excellent supplement for courses on the history of a specific country in the medieval period, the history of medieval art, or the history of the European economy.

    The book, which is profusely illustrated, contains chapters on all aspects of the history, culture, values & achievements of Athenian life. Teachers & students of Reading Greek now have a full & instant guide to the cultural & historical topics in which the course is so diverse & rich. The book is essential for all users of Reading Greek.