-
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons
- The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery
- Narrated by: Henry Leyva
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $30.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Caesar's Last Breath
- Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fascinating science and history of the air we breathe. It's invisible. It's ever present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell. In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it.
-
-
vastly entertaining
- By sdp on 08-11-17
By: Sam Kean
-
The Icepick Surgeon
- Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.
-
-
FANTASTIC! & What’s up with all these naysayers (negative reviewers)?!
- By H. Zophie Leslea on 08-19-21
By: Sam Kean
-
The Violinist's Thumb
- And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Henry Leyva
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean come more incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking.
-
-
a Magnum Opus
- By Richard on 04-13-13
By: Sam Kean
-
Gory Details
- By: Erika Engelhaupt
- Narrated by: Mari Weiss
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Filled to the brim with far-out facts, this wickedly informative narrative from the author of National Geographic's popular Gory Details blog takes us on a fascinating journey through an astonishing new reality. Blending humor and journalism in the tradition of Mary Roach, acclaimed science reporter Erika Engelhaupt investigates the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe.
-
-
Entertaining, educational, and unique!
- By Ashlee on 06-27-21
By: Erika Engelhaupt
-
The Bastard Brigade
- The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During World War II, in the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research; Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses - dubbed the Alsos Mission - and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club.
-
-
Awesome
- By Solar red on 07-12-19
By: Sam Kean
-
The Disappearing Spoon
- And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reporter Sam Kean reveals the periodic table as it’s never been seen before. Not only is it one of man's crowning scientific achievements, it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
-
-
One great book
- By Robert on 01-26-11
By: Sam Kean
-
Caesar's Last Breath
- Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fascinating science and history of the air we breathe. It's invisible. It's ever present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell. In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it.
-
-
vastly entertaining
- By sdp on 08-11-17
By: Sam Kean
-
The Icepick Surgeon
- Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.
-
-
FANTASTIC! & What’s up with all these naysayers (negative reviewers)?!
- By H. Zophie Leslea on 08-19-21
By: Sam Kean
-
The Violinist's Thumb
- And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Henry Leyva
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean come more incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking.
-
-
a Magnum Opus
- By Richard on 04-13-13
By: Sam Kean
-
Gory Details
- By: Erika Engelhaupt
- Narrated by: Mari Weiss
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Filled to the brim with far-out facts, this wickedly informative narrative from the author of National Geographic's popular Gory Details blog takes us on a fascinating journey through an astonishing new reality. Blending humor and journalism in the tradition of Mary Roach, acclaimed science reporter Erika Engelhaupt investigates the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe.
-
-
Entertaining, educational, and unique!
- By Ashlee on 06-27-21
By: Erika Engelhaupt
-
The Bastard Brigade
- The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During World War II, in the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research; Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses - dubbed the Alsos Mission - and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club.
-
-
Awesome
- By Solar red on 07-12-19
By: Sam Kean
-
The Disappearing Spoon
- And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reporter Sam Kean reveals the periodic table as it’s never been seen before. Not only is it one of man's crowning scientific achievements, it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
-
-
One great book
- By Robert on 01-26-11
By: Sam Kean
-
Dr. Mutter's Marvels
- A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
- By: Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
- Narrated by: Erik Singer
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine undergoing an operation without anesthesia performed by a surgeon who refuses to sterilize his tools - or even wash his hands. This was the world of medicine when Thomas Dent Mütter began his trailblazing career as a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia during the middle of the 19th century. Although he died at just 48, Mütter was an audacious medical innovator who pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed, which clashed spectacularly with the sentiments of his time.
-
-
Morbidly wonderful
- By serine on 04-08-16
-
Unlocking the Hidden History of DNA
- By: Sam Kean, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Professor Sam Kean
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Locked inside the DNA of every species that ever lived are endless stories - about origins, ancestors, fate, and much more. Until recently, these secrets were completely inaccessible. But with the help of new technologies, scientists are now reading the hidden history of DNA, making remarkable discoveries about ourselves and our fellow species. Your gateway to this treasure trove of information is Unlocking the Hidden History of DNA, 12 informative and accessible lectures delivered by New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean.
-
-
Great course
- By MyGrnEyesF on 04-29-21
By: Sam Kean, and others
-
The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth
- And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Morris
- Narrated by: Thomas Morris, Ruper Farley
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A puzzling series of dental explosions beginning in the 19th century is just one of many strange tales that have long lain undiscovered in the pages of old medical journals. Award-winning medical historian Thomas Morris delivers one of the most remarkable, cringe-inducing collections of stories ever assembled.
-
-
Boring Toilet Humor
- By Nemo on 01-30-20
By: Thomas Morris
-
I Contain Multitudes
- The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
- By: Ed Yong
- Narrated by: Charlie Anson
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joining the ranks of popular science classics like The Botany of Desire and The Selfish Gene, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin - a "microbe's-eye view" of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on Earth.
-
-
Fantastic Mix of Information & Description
- By Versh on 09-02-16
By: Ed Yong
-
A Short History of Nearly Everything
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science. Although he doesn't know anything about the subject (at first), he is eager to learn, and takes information that he gets from the world's leading experts and explains it to us in a way that makes it exciting and relevant.
-
-
A complete breakfast
- By Julia on 07-25-05
By: Bill Bryson
-
The Good Nurse
- A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder
- By: Charles Graeber
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After his December 2003 arrest, registered nurse Charlie Cullen was quickly dubbed "The Angel of Death" by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. He was a favorite son, husband, beloved father, best friend, and celebrated caregiver. Implicated in the deaths of as many as 300 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history.
-
-
The Good Nurse gets it right
- By jc on 05-28-13
By: Charles Graeber
-
Quackery
- A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
- By: Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What won't we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine - yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison - was dosed like Viagra. Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices.
-
-
Comprehensive is an understatement
- By Amber on 11-08-18
By: Lydia Kang, and others
-
The Great Influenza
- The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
- By: John M. Barry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, history's most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in 24 years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision between modern science and epidemic disease.
-
-
Gripping and Gory
- By Nancy on 07-01-08
By: John M. Barry
-
Deadliest Enemy
- Our War Against Killer Germs
- By: Michael T. Osterholm, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are facing an overwhelming army of deadly, invisible enemies. We need a plan - before it's too late. Unlike natural disasters, whose destruction is concentrated in a limited area over a period of days, and illnesses, which have devastating effects but are limited to individuals and their families, infectious disease has the terrifying power to disrupt everyday life on a global scale, overwhelming public and private resources and bringing trade and transportation to a grinding halt.
-
-
Topical treatise on virus flu pandemics
- By Wayne on 03-15-20
By: Michael T. Osterholm, and others
-
Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
-
-
I worked with cadavers for years, but....
- By Linda on 11-11-12
By: Mary Roach
-
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and Other Clinical Tales
- By: Oliver Sacks
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Oliver Sacks - introduction
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells the stories of individuals afflicted with fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; who are stricken with violent tics and grimaces or who shout involuntary obscenities; whose limbs have become alien; who have been dismissed as retarded yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents.
-
-
"Lest we forget how fragile we are..."
- By ESK on 02-23-13
By: Oliver Sacks
-
Patient H.M.
- A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets
- By: Luke Dittrich
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1953, a 27-year-old factory worker named Henry Molaison - who suffered from severe epilepsy - received a radical new version of the then-common lobotomy, targeting the most mysterious structures in the brain. The operation failed to eliminate Henry’s seizures, but it did have an unintended effect: Henry was left profoundly amnesic, unable to create long-term memories. Over the next 60 years, Patient H.M., as Henry was known, became the most studied individual in the history of neuroscience, a human guinea pig who would teach us much of what we know about memory today.
-
-
Overall enjoyable but a bit long winded
- By Lydia on 10-15-19
By: Luke Dittrich
Publisher's Summary
The author of the best seller The Disappearing Spoon reveals the secret inner workings of the brain through strange-but-true stories.
Early studies of the human brain used a simple method: Wait for misfortune to strike - strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, horrendous accidents - and see how victims coped. In many cases their survival was miraculous, if puzzling. Observers were amazed by the transformations that took place when different parts of the brain were destroyed, altering victims' personalities. Parents suddenly couldn't recognize their own children. Pillars of the community became pathological liars. Some people couldn't speak but could still sing.
In The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, Sam Kean travels through time with stories of neurological curiosities: Phantom limbs, Siamese twin brains, viruses that eat patients' memories, blind people who see through their tongues. He weaves these narratives together to create a story of discovery that reaches back to the 1500s and the high-profile jousting accident that inspired this book's title.* With the lucid, masterful explanations and razor-sharp wit his fans have come to expect, Kean explores the brain's secret passageways and recounts the forgotten tales of the ordinary people whose struggles, resilience, and deep humanity made neuroscience possible.
*"The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons" refers to the case of French king Henri II, who in 1559 was lanced through the skull during a joust, resulting in one of the most significant cases in neuroscience history. For hundreds of years scientists have gained important lessons from traumatic accidents and illnesses, and such misfortunes still represent their greatest resource for discovery.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 05-06-15
Detailed but not overly Technical
This book comes with a PDF, but it is not too critical to the book. There are little puzzles for each chapter that involves piecing together pictures, letters, and sounds to form a hidden word or phrase, which are mentioned at the start of each chapter, and are mildly interesting but not at all necessary for understanding the material. There are also pictures of where the various parts of the brain are, but again, interesting but not critical.
The book is written for the layman and not overly technical. It covers a bunch on interesting neurological case studies, most of which have been covered in other books. However, Kean does an excellent job of research, and exposition, getting to the essence of the case studies without too much technical detail. I tend to like a lot of technical detail, but I enjoyed this book quite a bit anyway. The stories are interesting, and a number of details that were misreported elsewhere are corrected and clarified here.
The author has a quite graphic style (some might say too graphic). The book is often discussing in vivid detail oozing, infected, dissected, projected, extracted, rotting brain tissue. This did not bother me, but it may be more than some listeners would expect.
If you don’t mind a little grossness, I think most listeners will enjoy this book and at least get something to think about.
The narration is excellent, very upbeat and high energy, without being sappy.
There are other books on this subject, that I think I learned more from, but none that I enjoyed more, plus this made several subtle, yet important, points not presented elsewhere and corrected commonly misreported stories that I thought I knew.
53 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Neuron
- 05-19-16
History and neuroscience in a favourable mix
An effective way to learn a subject or learn about a new scientific discipline is to study its history. A historical approach will give you a deeper understanding of how observations and ideas developed into the theories we have today. An added benefit is that a historical approach makes you feel clever, because let's face it, whatever the subject people used to have some very strange ideas. The history of neuroscience, which is still I would say in its infancy, has many prime examples of historical folly.
The fascinating stories told in this book stretches all the way back into medieval times, specifically to King Henry V and his death caused by an intracranial hemorrhage in 1559. From there, the book goes to the inflammatory debate between the Sparks and the Soups. The Sparks claimed that neurons were physically connected and transmitted electrical impulses whereas the soups argued that there were gaps between neurons and that they communicated using signaling molecules crossing these gaps. (The answer, as is often the case, is somewhere in between because some neurons are physically connected via so-called gap junctions although the norm is that neurons communicate using signal molecules as the Soups argued.)
Many of patients that the reader meets in this book are also described in your average neuroscience\neuropsychology textbook. The major difference between this book and the textbooks is that here the author is not trying to bore you to death. Sam Kean knows what makes a story entertaining and he does not shy away from providing juicy details for fear of appearing unscholarly.
For example, we meet the infamous 'Tan Tan' who, independent of the question asked, answered: “Tan Tan” except when he was furious and he suddenly gained access to a larger vocabulary (especially curse words). One thing you don't read in textbooks is that Tan Tan was often kind of an egotistical jerk who stole things from other mental patients around him.
Another patient celebrity is Phineas Gage, who got a metal rod right through his head and brain but somehow survived. It turned out that his moral intuition was damaged, however. The squeamish reader might want to skip this chapter because it also describes the immediate aftermath where his doctor scooped up some of Gage’s brain with his bare hands, having difficulties deciding what to do with the gore. We also meet SM, who, a patient who following the removal of her amygdala, had a desire to pet venomous snakes even though she claimed to be afraid of them. My favorite case though is that of Supreme Court Justice Douglas, who got a stroke and became paralyzed but then insisted, privately and publicly (and probably to himself), that he was not paralyzed. When probed on why he sat in a wheelchair he claimed that didn't feel like standing up or something like that.
There are many many more persons/patient described in this book, and I do not want to spoil too much of the book which is a must-read for people interested in what happens when the brain do not function normally. The elegant mixture of case reports, contemporary theories, and modern neuroscience results in an excellent book that is both entertaining and educational.
31 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Traci
- 10-16-14
Kept me engaged for its entirety
I was a fan of "The violinist's thumb," by Sam Kean so I was happy he had another book I could listen to. This isn't a light "read" for it goes into details about the human brain that might otherwise get lost if you're not paying close attention at parts. Many of his stories kept me listening, (I commute long distances) sometimes while sitting in my driveway. If you have any interest in the subject, I'd recommend it.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kenn
- 08-16-14
Facinating and engaging
Where does The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This was one of my favorite books to listen to. The story is told with humour and a keen eye to the incredible reality of these tales.
What did you like best about this story?
The depth of the stories told. They were all so very facinating.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Roberta
- 07-31-14
witty, delightful and informative
Nonfiction works like this keep me hooked on audio books. The Narrator does an outstanding job. The material is scientific, but the author adds fascinating history and amusing anecdotes to make it interesting and humorous. The Narrator captures every bit of the humor with just the right timing and delivery.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Caithaml
- 12-27-15
Slow Starter... no Disappearing Spoon
What did you like best about The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons? What did you like least?
The insights and the stories behind the human conscientious were much needed about three quarters of the way through the book.
What was most disappointing about Sam Kean’s story?
I like how Sam wraps the information he is presenting into a neat package with the backstory included. He did it exceptionally well in The Disappearing Spoon, but this book was just hard to get into, especially at first.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
I feel like certain parts of this book have already been portrayed in the movies. It certainly was familiar at times.
Any additional comments?
Pretty good book, but I probably had my hopes set too high after listening to The Disappearing Spoon. This book was filled with complicated and protracted concepts that were hard to follow along with in the audio format. I think I would have found more enjoyment in reading the print copy of this book, instead of listening to it.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gotta Tellya
- 10-28-14
Fascinating history of neurological discovery
What did you love best about The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons?
I liked the tie-ins between real, individual historical cases of illness and those who discovered the neurological causes of those problems, developing treatments along the way through the process of experimentation, of trial and error.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons?
Too many to list. I was fascinated by each case and by the doctors and scientists who treated the patients, developing theories of why they were ill and pioneering treatments to aleviate their conditions.
What about Henry Leyva’s performance did you like?
So well read! His narration was excellent and held my attention throughout.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Mapping the Maze of the Brain.
Any additional comments?
I listened to this audio book twice before moving on to anything else. The book is rich with insights into the structure and operation of the brain, told in an historical context. It describes the eons during which little at all was known about the complex organ lodged between our ears and moves forward in time through illuminating cases and discoveries. This book should be of interest to those who are medically inclined as well as to anyone curious about the brain and how it works.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Diane
- 07-14-17
Battles of the Brain
As Sam Kean points out, much of our understanding of the brain has come about through the misfortunes of others who have suffered a brain injury or malformation with the attendant, often strange, disabilities or transformations that have occurred as a result. This is a collection of those stories, how they were handled at the time, the debates and conflicts they engendered and what neuroscience has learned from them. Whether it be the loss of all ability to form short term memories, the acquisition of new skills/obsessions, "seeing" through sound or touch or phantom limb pain, these cases have pointed the way to new knowledge as to how the brain works.
Much of the material will be somewhat familiar to those who have had an interest in the subject and personally I prefer the books written by Oliver Sachs. Nevertheless this was an engaging and informative listen.
*One general comment about the pdfs that accompany books such as this one. I have found them to contain only the smallest sliver of information and to be simplistic to the point of uselessness--even patronizing in their cartoonish format. If you are gong to to go to the trouble of making a pdf available, please make it one that respects the reader and actually enhances our understanding of the book's content!!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pony
- 08-30-14
Delightful and Educational
Same Kean provided another work full of science and history and wonderful story telling. Great case stories and he is able to fully develop historial figures in these case stories. Anybody who is learning about neuroscience should enjoy it.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Angela
- 07-27-14
Outstanding!!
What made the experience of listening to The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons the most enjoyable?
There are very few books that merit a 5 star rating. There are even fewer narrations of books that deserve 5 star ratings. This book is that delicious juxtaposition of incredible narration and tight, well-paced writing.
What did you like best about this story?
I disliked that it ended so soon. I also wish the author had delved further into some of the cases to give the reader a deeper glimpse into the patients' regular lives
What about Henry Leyva’s performance did you like?
Excellent, well-paced narration. Neither breathy nor dramatic, Mr Leyva imparted just the right gravitas for the subject matter.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Other than a documentary, this book wouldn't translate into film.
Any additional comments?
This author and narrator have an excellent thing going. I hope they work together in future, and that the author write more on this topic. The author makes the subject matter accessible to regular minds like mine.
6 people found this helpful