A Short History of the Brain

Human beings have long been intrigued by the brain, the organ whose functions include regulating the body’s metabolism, controlling movement, generating thought, and storing memories.

Topics covered in A Short History of the Brain include prehistoric brain surgery; the discoveries made by Islamic scholars during the medieval period; why Renaissance artists incorporated brain imagery into their paintings; how the electric eel stimulated brain research during the Enlightenment; the impact of evolutionary theory on concepts of brain function in the 19th century; the role Sigmund Freud played in the development of neurology; the invention of the brain scan; how we came to understand ourselves as ‘neurochemical selves’ in the 21st century.

Based on his acclaimed BBC Radio 4 series, Geoff Bunn’s A Short History of the Brain will fascinate anyone interested in learning how we embarked on the journey to understand the most complex entity in the known universe.