The Future of the Brain: The Promise and Perils of Tomorrow's Neuroscience

Brain repair, smart pills, mind-reading machines--modern neuroscience promises to deliver a remarkable array of wonders as well as profound insight into the nature of the brain. But these exciting new breakthroughs, warns Steven Rose, will also raise troubling questions about what it means to be human. In this book, Rose explores just how far neuroscience may help us understand the human brain--including consciousness--and to what extent cutting edge technologies should have the power to mend or manipulate the mind. He illuminates the potential threats and promises of new technologies and their ethical, legal, and social implications.

Steven Rose is Professor of Biology and Director of the Brain and Behavior Research Group at The Open University, and is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at University College, London. He has written or edited 15 books, including The Chemistry of Life, The Conscious Brain, The Making of Memory, and Not In Our Genes (with Richard Lewontin and Leo Kamin). He is a frequent radio and TV guest and has written for New York Times Book Review, New Scientist, and Times Literary Supplement.