The Great Brain Book, The: an Inside Look at the Inside of Your Head - Hardcover

HP Newquist

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439458951 ISBN 13: 9780439458955

Publisher: Scholastic Reference, 2005

Synopsis

The anatomy, functions, surgery, care and feeding, historical discovery, and imminent improvements of this complex and powerful organ in an "oh-wow!" package. High interest with just a touch of yuck.

Understanding the brain is one of the biggest challenges facing scientists. We still don't know how the brain creates thoughts! Newquist peels back the layers of the brain to explain what it's made of, how it works, and how to make your brain work for you. From eyeballs to neurons, vivid illustrations show pieces of its complex structure.
The historical chapter details how Egyptians scooped out the brains of mummies, and how phrenology developed. Brain surgery and brain abnormalities are explained, as is the function of sleep and dreams. An informal and intriguing look inside your head.

About this title

About the Author:

HP Newquist is the author of more than a dozen books, hundreds of magazine articles, and several film documentaries. His most recent book is Scholastic’s The Great Brain Book” which the National Science Teachers Association and the Children’s Book Council chose as an outstanding science book for 2006. In order to write The Great Brain Book,” Mr. Newquist learned everything he could about the brain, even spending several days in a hospital operating room watching brain surgery.

His other books include Virtual Reality” (also for Scholastic), which incorporated 3-D images and glasses to give young readers an in-depth and entertaining look at the world of modern technology; Space” written with CNN anchor Lou Dobbs; The Yahoo! Ultimate Reference To The Web,” a guide to the best websites on the Internet (a Book Of The Month Club Main Selection); The Way They Play” series, which teaches students how to play music like their favorite musicians; and The Brain Makers,” a history of man’s quest to create thinking machines. His writing been translated into languages including Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, and even Indonesian.

He has written documentaries and consulted for The Disney Channel and PBS, is a contributor to the Encarta Encyclopedia, and has worked with Universal Studios in creating theme park rides. All of these came about because of Mr. Newquist’s experience as a writer!

Review:

Booklist 5/15/05.
Gr. 5-8. With an appealing, colorful design and a flashy cover, this in-depth introduction to the human brain and its remarkable powers will attract browsers, but strong readers are its best audience. Newquist begins with the brain in history, from the ancient Egyptians (who thought the brain was so worthless they scooped it out of corpses before mummifying them) up to Wilder Penfield's work in the 1950s, which proved that the brain was the source of human memory. The book goes on to discuss, in impressive detail, the structure and inner workings of the organ-glia, neurotransmitters, hypothalamuses, etc. Pencil drawings and color illustrations (many of them deliciously icky) help to lighten the weight of the vocabulary. The clever, kid-friendly anecdotes amid the anatomy lessons also aid accessibility: the one about a man whose personality changed after a steel rod shot through his brain, and the real cause of brain freeze.
John Green

SLJ 9/1/05
NEWQUIST, H. P. The Great Brain Book: An Inside Look at the Inside of Your Head. illus. by Keith Kasnot & Eric Brace. 160p. diags. photos. reprods. index. Web sites. CIP. Scholastic Reference. 2005. Tr $18.95. ISBN 0-439-45895-1. LC 2004042955.
Gr 7 Up–This detailed and informative book offers in-depth descriptions of brain processes coupled with engaging content. Intriguing illustrations and diagrams and clear, full-color photos enliven the text. Historical information pairs nicely with modern scientific knowledge and practice to provide a complete picture of the brain. The hardcore science is balanced with anecdotes that will capture student interest, such as how tightrope walkers rewire the fear centers of their brains and how lobotomies came to be popular. This is an excellent resource for reports as it is much more detailed than an encyclopedia entry or book chapter in a general physiology reference. It includes a short but effective index and a one-page list of Web resources. A handsome addition.–Cass Kvenild, University of Wyoming, Laramie

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Reference
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0439458951
• ISBN 13: 9780439458955
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160
• Illustrator: Keith Kasnot, Eric Brace