by Eric R. Kandel
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Product Description
"A stunning book."—Oliver Sacks
Charting the intellectual history of the emerging biology of mind, Eric R. Kandel illuminates how behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology have converged into a powerful new science of mind. This science now provides nuanced insights into normal mental functioning and disease, and simultaneously opens pathways to more effective healing.
Driven by vibrant curiosity, Kandel's personal quest to understand memory is threaded throughout this absorbing history. Beginning with his childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna, In Search of Memory chronicles Kandel's outstanding career from his initial fascination with history and psychoanalysis to his groundbreaking work on the biological process of memory, which earned him the Nobel Prize.
A deft mixture of memoir and history, modern biology and behavior, In Search of Memory traces how a brilliant scientist's intellectual journey intersected with one of the great scientific endeavors of the twentieth century: the search for the biological basis of memory. 50 illustrations.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Great and fascinating book, 2008-11-18
Already the first page of this book completely grabbed my attention. As a person who is just very interested in the brain (without having studied neuroscience), I truly enjoyed reading this book. It is a wonderful mixture of information on Kandel's life and exciting information on processes within the brain. The book teaches you a lot about what the brain consists of and how it works, and Kandel's vivid descriptions make it an enjoyable read. It is really difficult to find a book that provides readers with a huge amount of scientific information and at the same time is very entertaining. The writing style and the way the book develops are just great. From the first to the last page, I could not put it away. You do not have to be a researcher to understand how the brain works. Kandel manages to present the brain processes in an understandable way, starting with the basics. If you are interested in memoirs and want to learn more about our brain, this book is the one you want to read. Unlike many other autobiographies, it offers you a lot scientific knowledge; and unlike many other scientific books, it does it in an understandable and truly enjoyable way. It is one of the best memoirs/scientific books I have ever read.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
In Search of Memory - Great and Very useful book!, 2008-10-30
Amazing and motivating book. Eric Kandel described in simple language how was created the actual neuroscience, and how he achieved their discoveries. I liked it so much that I bought 2 copies !!!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
An excellent overview of the mechanism of memory - and more, 2008-10-21
This book's title, "In Search of Memory", may at first lead the reader to believe that this particular work describes the mechanism in which the mind creates and stores memories. This book is in fact about just that - and so much more.
"In Search of Memory" is an excellent primer on the progression of the science surrounding the brain. It begins with discussing early schools of thought such as phrenology, and continues through the years to show how the then current knowledge of the brain allowed scientists of the time to guess at the way in which the brain functioned. Eric Kandel provides a thorough overview of all the brilliant scientists who increased the understanding of the brain and its inner workings by discovering neurons, connections, and signaling mechanisms. In many cases, these discoveries were so novel and groundbreaking that they changed neuroscience completely.
However, the area that Kandel wanted to understand more about was the mechanism for memory. His most well-known work was accomplished with the Aplysia, a giant sea snail. He enumerates in great detail how his experimentation, aided by his colleagues, led him to understand the cellular mechanisms that bring about short-term and long-term learning.
What is fascinating about Kandel's work is that he constantly finds new ways to apply his findings in different ways and produce new hypotheses to study. With Aplysia, he starts with a reductionist view and then progressively works to gather data to relate to larger scale, higher functioning memory systems.
Kandel also describes in detail the scientific work of his contemporaries and how that work allows him to improve his research. Likewise, his discusses his collaboration with others to aid in their projects. This insider's view to a supportive scientific community of peers makes the book a very interesting read.
What makes this book so accessible is that while Kandel goes into detail, naming proteins, genes, neurotransmitters, and other relevant components, the reader does not have to be overly familiar with the subject matter to learn a great deal from it: the writing is clear, and an extensive glossary defines all the technical terms used. This book is ideal for anyone wishing to learn about the history of neuroscience.
In addition to the comprehensive overview of neuroscience, "In Search of Memory" is also somewhat of an autobiography for Kandel. He intertwines his own search for the mechanism that creates memory with strong memories of his own. His account of growing up in a Jewish family in Austria during the time that Hitler's army was invading, and his family's escape to the United States are fascinating.
Another very interesting aspect to this book is that Kandel writes from the perspective of the scientist. When laymen encounter scientific facts, theorems, and knowledge, we are told that science has changed over time; what used to be true decades or centuries ago was replaced with new knowledge as fact once "better science" has proved the old knowledge to be wrong. While this may be generally true, what you don't generally hear about is the process of the change in thinking, and the resistance and support on both sides. Kandel's experiences show moments of great collaborations between scientists to obtain knowledge, but also show the fierce opposition scientists are likely to receive, especially if their data goes against the current knowledge.
This work is particularly inspiring to any scientists who have ever been told that an idea of theirs is not currently possible. At a time when it was mostly unheard of to believe that the mechanism of memory could be simplified and explained, Kandel accepted criticism from doubters and assistance from his peers and mentors to conduct research and find answers to these seemingly unanswerable questions.
In addition to providing a background to neuroscience and an overview of his academic research, Kandel discusses the possibility of expanding his research on memory to be able to describe and locate human thoughts, memories, and emotions. Approaching these matters with a scientific view can be regarded as controversial and containing ethical implications. However, Kandel acknowledges that the subject is very complicated while still providing an insightful view into these aspects of brain science, showing how current and future research is attempting to further unlock the brain and the human mind.
I enjoyed this book immensely. The writing is very clear, provides comprehensive yet clear technical data, and is even humorous at times. Eric Kandel is an individual who gives the impression of possessing an unquenchable thirst for knowledge; even after a very accomplished career, including a Nobel Prize, he still lists many he questions he would like to see answered one day. This book is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to know more about the cellular mechanism for memory creation, or just wants to know more about the history and current state of brain science.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Great book, 2008-09-27
Such a simple and beautiful expression of one's own life history embracing the history of neuroscience: Written with simplicity, ease and humor this book tells the history of neuroscience beautifully harmonized with the Kandel's own life history. I do not know of any other authors who explain the scientific approaches to the study of mind in such an understandable way. Ayla Arslan, Istanbul.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
From a reader severely lacking in scientific formation..., 2008-04-11
Had Eric Kandel been my Science teacher back in High School, I would've probably picked Medicine or Biochemistry as my BA, instead of English. This book took me quite long to read -about 3 months-, both due to second-language interference (English is not my native language) and to my nearly complete ignorance regarding even basic biology and chemistry. Yet, despite having had to make an effort more than once to fully comprehend what I was reading I DID NOT FEEL AT ALL BORED. NOT EVEN ONCE.
In fact, I was so fascinated by the book and Kandel's enthusiasm over his research was so contagious, I searched for and got my hands on some basic Biology texts in order to delve deeper into some concepts and get a better grasp on the significance of his and his colleagues' findings. In addition to this, the text itself is written in easily readable language and the scientific explanations are presented in a manner simple enough to be understood by both scientific and un-scientific minds (such as mine), and accompanied by illustrations that make them even clearer.
When regarded as Kandel's autobiography, detailing his line of research, the obstacles he met, and his motivation to comprehend the biology of memory, it is a fascinating text for anyone interested on getting some insight on what it is that makes great minds tick.
When regarded as a biography presenting the birth and development of a new science that combines Biology, Chemistry, Physiology, Psychiatry and many specific sub-areas within these disciplines, it is simply a "must read". Even for someone who, like me, completely lacks scientific formation.
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