In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind
Written by Eric R. Kandel
Narrated by James Anderson Foster
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Eric R. Kandel
Eric R. Kandel is the University Professor and Fred Kavli Professor at Columbia University and a Senior Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his studies of learning and memory, he is the author of In Search of Memory, a memoir that won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize; The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present, which won the Bruno Kreisky Award in Literature, Austria’s highest literary award; and Reductionism in Art and Science: Bridging the Two Cultures, a book about the New York School of abstract art. He is also the coauthor of Principles of Neural Science, the standard textbook in the field.
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Reviews for In Search of Memory
134 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Book offers a lot of information (sometimes an overload of it, but in a good way). The author starts very basic and leads to quite a high level of detail about neurophysiology.One of the best lines: "The greatest strength of a scientific method is its ability to disprove a hypothesis.".For someone who is interested in the 'science of things', this is a must read to know the inner intricacies of the brain.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best scientific biographies that I’ve read. Eric Kandel is a Nobel prize winning neuroscientist whose scientific career spans more than 50 years. In addition to being a creative and intelligent scientist he is an excellent writer, both as a story teller for the biographical sections and as a teacher in the scientific sections (a majority of the book). At times I was so captivated by his expository writing that I became impatient with his biography. At other times just the reverse occurred.This is a large book that covers Eric’s life, from his youth in Vienna and his experience as a Jew to his acceptance of the Nobel prize. In between is a rich life that covers many of the key discoveries of modern neuroscience. The science is covered quite thoroughly so if you are looking for a “light” biography you will probably be disappointed. I particularly enjoyed his insight into science as a human endeavor. After going over a particular episode in his life he would often draw conclusions about human nature and the enterprise of science that were very penetrating. Here is a mind that is not only able to do great science but is highly self-aware and able to communicate the lessons he has learned.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book plats a chronicled braid that entwines world events, scientific developments and Kandel’s personal life and scientific work. He tells us about himself and thus a lot about the science that fulfils a need to expose details of the mysterious. For his endeavours he was awarded a third share of a Nobel Prize in 2000. His personal experiences are a web of substantial privilege and deeply felt tragedy. Indeed it is likely that he fell into scientific research because it could provide a sense of purpose and intellectual consolation from the irrational madness of the world. Some will be interested in the personal side (unrelated to science), but more – I suspect – will be interested his unfolding story of brain science and his scientific career. When he started his research, the neurosciences were very immature. Fortunately they are better founded today. Thus in this book, Kandel can discuss the neuronal, molecular and genetic aspects of making memories. He explains the ways in which neurons interact and even the way nuclear DNA plays an active role in setting permanent memories. However, another lesson is also clear to an outside observer. The immature practice of overgeneralization is a hard habit for any field to abandon. Kandel professional career has kept to a theme. Nevertheless he describes how each time he took a new direction, others he respected advised against it. Ultimately he was proved correct. Therefore, we might ask if this good judgment or plain luck? The answer is both of course! He explains how he made his career moves. He did not pay much attention to general attitudes as to what should or could be done. He worked on what he was fascinated by, what he though most important and what was an open field. He took a pragmatic approach and began with the easiest large-scale phenomena that could be studied. He did not try to develop skills independently. He decided what needed to be done and sought out collaborators who already had most of the needed skills he lacked. Each step of the way he tried to be first in some area to make substantive progress. Thus he could do all the easy exploration before it became too crowded. To continue making important contributions, he followed the reductionist path and gradually revealed the inner working of successive pictures from the organ of the brain right down to its molecular structure. Necessarily he did not tie himself down to any particular speciality within the neurosciences. Hence he took whatever he needed from whichever specialities were most relevant.He presents a physical picture of how some neurons are excited or inhibited, how they strengthen connections, how these strengths are maintained, and how they can integrate different messages. He relates this to the laying down and reading of memories, and the formation of spatial awareness. Yet the nature of consciousness, the existence of free will (or won’t) and the process of setting attention are a step too far for even a guess. Certainly much of the reported evidence has helped in the development of medicinal drugs. Yet it goes uncommented that such progress was advanced by the cavalier ‘torture’ of our DNA-cousins: snails, mice and monkeys.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Had Eric Kandel been my Science teacher in High School, there's a chance I would've picked Medicine or Biochmistry as my BA, instead of English.When regarded as Kandel's autobiography, detailing his progress, his origins and motivation to comprehend the biology of memory, it is a fascinating text.When regarding as a biography that narrates the birth and development of a new science that combines Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nice book, and personally signed by Dr. Kandel.