| |
|
Lingua ex Machina: Reconciling Darwin and Chomsky with the Human Brain 2 reviews
William H. Calvin, Derek Bickerton
The MIT Press, 2001
Conversation on conversation
The so-called "reconcilation" promised by the title is not entirely delivered. Both Calvin and Bickerton seem too taken with their respective ideas. It is an interesting discussion nonetheless, and good points are made by both writers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Throwing Madonna: Essays on the Brain 2 reviews
William H. Calvin
AuthorHouse, 2001
Interesting, informative, and enjoyable
William Calvin is one of my favorite writers and thinkers on the brain. I don't always agree with his ideas, but he's creative in a way I enjoy and his ideas are always provocative and even pathbreaking in the way he integrates diverse areas--from linguistics to climatology--with the evolution and development of the brain.
This books brings together some of his best essays, covering a diverse ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Almost Us: Portraits of the Apes
WilliamCalvin.org, 2008
Monkeys just don?t ?grab? the visitors in quite the same way as apes. It?s easy to see why. The apes look and act far more like humans than other animals. Apes are personable, even charming. I?m not the first to suggest that apes don?t fit either of the lay human-or-animal categories. They are in a category all to themselves, almost us. Yet apes are not well known to most people ? most zoo visitors will be heard referring to them as ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
A Brief History of the Mind: From Apes to Intellect and Beyond 6 reviews
William H. Calvin
Oxford University Press, USA, 2005
The rise of "beyond the apes" intelligence
The central event in this book is the human mind's so-called "big bang" which occurred some 90,000 to 50,000 years ago.
(These are neurobiologist William Calvin's numbers from page 111 where he notes that "it now appears that humans were behaviorally modern before the last great Out of Africa" which is now understood as taking place between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago, as determined by the ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Global Fever: How to Treat Climate Change 1 review
William H. Calvin
University Of Chicago Press, 2008
Even Handed Approach on How to Get Out of the GW Problem
The author is a neurosurgeon by training, but has a solid background in science that certainly qualifies him to write on the topic of this book. As such, he provides a fairly even handed view without a particular ax to grind. Years ago I read his very enjoyable and interesting The River That Flows Uphill -- From the Big Bang to the Big Brain. It's about his thoughts on such matters as he journeys ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then And Now (Science Masters Series) 11 reviews
William H Calvin
Basic Books, 1997
USE IT OR LOSE IT.
This book is a short survey of brain and mind. It isnt exhaustive, nor is it penetrating; Calvin touches all the important points and moves on. It's a good place to begin study about brain and mind. He writes well and isnt difficult to understand.
The chapter about climate and global warming surprised me, and it increased my enjoyment of the book because Calvin treats the subject fairly ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Conversations With Neil's Brain: The Neural Nature Of Thought And Language5 reviews
William H. Calvin, George A. Ojemann
Basic Books, 1995
Excellent Reading
This book describes a type of epilepsy surgery using subdural electrode grids prior to surgery. I underwent the same surgery as described in this book. This book is a very readable book that explains this kind of surgery in understandable language to the average reader. A must read for anyone with epilepsy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Inside the Brain: An Enthralling Account of the Structure and Workings of the Human Brain
William H. Calvin
AuthorHouse, 2001
Remarkable for both its wealth of information and its compelling presentation, this book by two accomplished neuroscientists lets us share the stunning achievements and irresistible excitement of those who have accepted the ultimate challenge to the human mind to probe itself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The River that Flows Uphill: A Journey From the Big Bang to the Big Brain3 reviews
William H. Calvin
Random House, Inc., 1987
Stranger Than Fiction; The Chaotic Order In Evolution
Fascinating! An excellent overview of what is "known", according to available evidence, about how life - particularly humans - evolved, along with some extremely intriguing theories yet unproved (although the "aquatic ape" hypothesis was being taught when I studied anthropology 20 years ago! Indeed - dig Danakil!). All set like a metaphor within the context of a 2-week rafting trip through the ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
How the Shaman Stole the Moon: In Search of Ancient Prophet- Scientists from Stonehenge to the Grand Canyon2 reviews
William H Calvin
AuthorHouse, 2001
Sorry to see it out of print.
As a trained astronomer and someone who has both taught the subject at the college level and been published in the sub-field of native american astronomy, I was amazed that someone from outside the field could make such a valuable contribution as this book is. It's both technically sound and entertaining to read. The explanations and arguments should be easily graspable by the educated ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Ascent of Mind: Ice Age Climates and the Evolution of Intelligence1 review
William H Calvin
AuthorHouse, 2001
Unearth this out-of-print gem on human evolution!
It is a pity that this spirited rant,which theorizes how sudden and cyclical global climate change pumped out ever stranger variations of hominids, is typically purchased by readers who buy books on cognition and neurology. Despite the "brainy" title, it is chock full of fascinating theories not just on the size and performance of the human brain but on many aspects of natural selection ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Almost Us: Portraits of the Apes
William H. Calvin
BookSurge Publishing, 2005
After you spot a dozen of your relatives among these candid portraits, you'll see why the great apes are called our close cousins. The portraits on the back cover show a frowning gorilla looking at a smiling one, an inquiring chimpanzee, a smiling orangutan gazing skyward, and a fashion portrait of a wet bonobo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Cerebral Code: Thinking a Thought in the Mosaics of the Mind10 reviews
William H. Calvin
The MIT Press, 1998
My review of "The Celebral Code".
Calvin surprised me in this book. I am the kind of guy interested in intelligence, how it might work biologically, and lastly I was given an advice by a fellow at bionet.neuroscience. The book gave me food for thought, and even as I am studying neurology in much more detail; "Principles of Neural Science" by Kandel et al; the basic idea that Calvin lay down in written form is still influencing ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Der Strom, der bergauf fließt. Eine Reise durch die Evolution.
William H. Calvin, Friedrich Griese
Dtv, 2002
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change10 reviews
William H. Calvin
University Of Chicago Press, 2003
Challenging but well worth reading
This is not an easy book to read. Calvin aims high, setting out to present a coherent new model of how repeated, abrupt climate changes may have driven the evolution of the human brain. Since science has only known about Earth's history of climatic instability for a few years and many details remain to be filled in, Calvin has taken on a major challenge. As if that were not enough, in the second ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
How Brains Think (Science Masters)
William H. Calvin
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ), 1998
|
|
|
|
|
|