Brain Pack

Experiments, brain teasers, and optical illusions explore why we think, why we forget, how hypnosis works, and where emotions come from

The Brain Pack is an interactive, three-dimensional tour of the ever-convoluted human brain. Egyptians and early Greeks believed that we thought with our hearts. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, said our brain was doing all the work. Medieval scholars disagreed, claiming that we thought with our souls. When Renaissance philosopher René Descartes proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," the world changed, and--more than 350 years later--magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography proved him right.

Packed with more information than a three-pound brain may be able to store at once, The Brain Pack leads you through basic brain anatomy, beginning with a life-sized pop-up of the inner human head. You'll also learn about emotions; the senses; consciousness; "sex in the brain" (testosterone and estrogen, puberty, aggression, and aging); intelligence and language; and memory. Hands-on features such as the Primary Emotions Wheel, pull-out flaps, and pop-up charts are entertaining, as are the fact-or-fiction games, memory exercises, IQ tests, and pull-out pamphlets. In a tray in the back of the book, you'll find a 15-minute audiocassette tour of the brain and a deck of cards that test your psychic abilities. Anyone who has ever marveled at the complexity of the human brain will revel in this entertaining, educational book.