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Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood
Oliver Sacks's luminous memoir charts the growth of a mind. Born in 1933 into a family of formidably intelligent London Jews, he discovered the wonders of the physical sciences early from his parents and their flock of brilliant siblings, most notably "Uncle Tungsten" (real name, Dave), who "manufactured lightbulbs with filaments of fine tungsten wire." Metals were the substances that first attracted young Oliver, and his descriptions of their colors, textures, and properties are as sensuous and romantic as an art lover's rhapsodies over an Old Master. Seamlessly interwoven with his personal recollections is a masterful survey of scientific history, with emphasis on the great chemists like Robert Boyle, Antoine Lavoisier, and Humphry Davy (Sacks's personal hero). Yet this is not a dry intellectual autobiography; his parents in particular, both doctors, are vividly sketched. His sociable father loved house calls and "was drawn to medicine because its practice was central in human society," while his shy mother "had an intense feeling for structure ... for her [medicine] was part of natural history and biology." For young Oliver, unhappy at the brutal boarding school he was sent to during the war, and afraid that he would become mentally ill like his older brother, chemistry was a refuge in an uncertain world. He would outgrow his passion for metals and become a neurologist, but as readers of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat know, he would never leave behind his conviction that science is a profoundly human endeavor. --Wendy Smith.
Price: $4.99
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A Leg to Stand On
Dr. Oliver Sacks's books Awakenings, An Anthropologist on Mars and the bestselling The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat have been acclaimed for their extraordinary compassion in the treatment of patients affected with profound disorders. In A Leg to Stand On, it is Sacks himself who is the patient: an encounter with a bull on a desolate mountain in Norway has left him with a severely damaged leg. But what should be a routine recuperation is actually the beginning of a strange medical journey when he finds that his leg uncannily no longer feels part of his body. Sacks's brilliant description of his crisis and eventual recovery is not only an illuminating examination of the experience of patienthood and the inner nature of illness and health but also a fascinating exploration of the physical basis of identity..
Price: $6.98
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Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom Teacher
Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning is the first book for educators written by an author who is both a neurologist and a classroom teacher. Dr. Willis used her neurology expertise to examine the past two decades of learning-centered brain research. Using her background and experience as a clinical neurologist and neuroscience researcher, she sifted through the abundance of neuroimaging and brain mapping information. She assessed what information was both valid and relevant to education. She then employed her training and experience as a classroom teacher to provide strategies for implementing the best of this research in the classroom. She brings this knowledge to life in a comprehensive and accessible style. Teachers will be introduced to strategies that will work in their own classrooms. These strategies will help teachers improve student memory, learning, and test-taking success. Teachers will also learn how to captivate and hold students' attention. Dr. Willis takes a reader-friendly approach to neuroscience, describing instructional strategies that are adaptable for grades K through 12. Through statistical data, individual student stories, and her own experiences using these strategies with elementary and middle school students, Dr. Willis provides teachers with a wealth of information they will want to start using in their classrooms before finishing the book. The book includes learning strategies that have come from research about how stress and emotion affect learning. Willis describes assessment techniques that not only assess authentically and with diversity, but also teach while assessing. This book will become one that teachers will return to again and again to pick up new strategies to make their own..
Price: $17.95
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In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind
Nobelist Eric Kandel's account of how his personal quest to understand memory intersected with the emergence of a new science In Search of Memory relates the astonishing story of how four different and distinct disciplinesbehaviorist psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biologyconverged into a powerful new science of mind. Through its profound insights into thought, perception, action, recollection, and mental illness, this new science is revolutionizing our understanding of learning and memory while simultaneously showing great promise for more effective healing. The narrative follows Eric R. Kandel through the last five decades, focusing on Vienna, where he became fascinated with memory. With intrepid scientific ardor, Kandel was captivated first by history and psychoanalysis, then by neurobiology, and finally by the biological processes of memory. His resulting, multifaceted perspective was the foundation for his path-breaking research that will continue to dominate modern thoughtnot only in science but in culture at large. 50 illustrations..
Price: $18.25
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The Echo Maker: A Novel
On a winter night on a remote Nebraska road, 27-year-old Mark Schluter flips his truck in a near-fatal accident. His older sister Karin, his only near kin, returns reluctantly to their hometown to nurse Mark back from a traumatic head injury. But when he emerges from a protracted coma, Mark believes that this woman–who looks, acts, and sounds just like his sister–is really an identical impostor. Shattered by her brother’s refusal to recognize her, Karin contacts the cognitive neurologist Gerald Weber, famous for his case histories describing the infinitely bizarre worlds of brain disorder. Weber recognizes Mark as a rare case of Capgras Syndrome, a doubling delusion, and eagerly investigates. What he discovers in Mark slowly undermines even his own sense of being. Meanwhile, Mark, armed only with a note left by an anonymous witness, attempts to learn what happened the night of his inexplicable accident. The truth of that evening will change the lives of all three beyond recognition. Set against the Platte River’s massive spring migrations–one of the greatest spectacles in nature–The Echo Maker is a gripping mystery that explores the improvised human self and the even more precarious brain that splits us from and joins us to the rest of creation. .
Price: $4.82
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Neurology Oral Boards Review: A Concise and Systematic Approach to Clinical Practice
A comprehensive yet concise review of relevant topics and examination strategies needed to pass the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) Part II (Oral) exam, complete with up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines on diagnosis and management in clinical neurology. The book follows the ABPN format, providing clinical case vignettes designed to allow the examinee to localize the plausible disease process, to indicate which investigations may help in establishing a diagnosis, to deduce treatment plans, and to make a prognosis, including patient and family counseling. The emergency cases test the ability to think critically when faced with a neurological emergency, putting a premium on resuscitation, patient safety, and rapid high-yield investigations. The general neurology cases reflect the breadth of disorders experienced in hospital and outpatient settings. The author's suggested study regimen takes into account the difficulties of allotting time to prepare while in post-residency training or practice. Comprehensive and case-based, Neurology Oral Boards Review: A Concise and Systematic Approach to Clinical Practice provides a structured approach to clinical problem solving in neurology, as well as an effective and time-efficient method to master the factual material needed to successfully complete the Neurology Oral Boards..
Price: $58.70
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Garcia's Heart: A Novel
In this searing debut novel, neurologist Patrick Lazerenko travels to The Hague to witness the war crimes trial of his mentor, Hernan GarcÃa, a Honduran doctor accused of involvement in torture. Discovered in Montreal years later, GarcÃa has been extradited to the famous criminal court, supported only by his family and an advocacy group whose motives seem questionable at best.
At the trial, Patrick encounters the ambitious journalist who has built her career on the case. She is convinced that Patrick knows more than he is admitting and won’t stop until she finds out what it is. The defense attorney has his own ideas for Patrick as well, hoping to persuade him to use his latest neurological research to vindicate GarcÃa. The only one who has asked nothing of Patrick is GarcÃa himself. After entering a plea of not guilty, GarcÃa has refused to say a word to anyone.
As GarcÃa’s supposed crimes are revealed, Patrick wrestles with what truth there may be behind the accusations, haunted as he is by his own youthful memories of the man and his family. He must also contend with seeing GarcÃa’s daughter, Celia, his former lover. Their relationship ended years before, but he is consumed by his memories of his love for her.
But it isn’t until GarcÃa’s shocking intentions come to light that Patrick begins to realize that however sophisticated his knowledge of the brain may be, it will take more for him to understand the human heart.
(09/15/2007).
Price: $5.88
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Neurology for the Non-Neurologist (Weiner, Neurology for the Non-Neurologist)
The thoroughly updated Fifth Edition of this popular book provides a practical introduction to contemporary neurology for nonspecialists. It offers straightforward guidance on diagnosis and management of all disorders affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems. Each chapter includes case studies with multiple-choice questions, plus a bulleted list indicating when to consult a neurologist. This edition features increased emphasis on treatment, including drugs, devices, and rehabilitation. The authors provide complete information on all new neurologic drugs--including dosage and interactions--and discuss herbal and alternative medicines where appropriate. This edition also includes more tables and illustrations to speed clinicians' access to information. .
Price: $56.99
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The Brain Has a Mind of Its Own: Insights from a Practicing Neurologist
If you're feeling disconnected from the world, it might not be because of your mood; you could be a temporal lobe epileptic. In this collection of fascinating, accessible essays, Richard Restak--bestselling author of Brainscapes--explores the relationship between mind and brain. " ... I still find it difficult to believe," he states in the introduction, "that this three-pound mass of protoplasm with the consistency of an overripe avocado is the seat of who I am, of who we all are." If you've ever wondered how much our humanity is shaped by the gray, wrinkled organ between our ears, or even what's going on in our brains when we daydream or ride a bicycle, this book of spirited anecdotes will provide some interesting answers and raise even more questions..
Price: $6.45
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Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty
This first book by the author of Zen and the Brain examines the role of chance in the creative process. James Austin tells a personal story of the ways in which persistence, chance, and creativity interact in biomedical research; the conclusions he reaches shed light on the creative process in any field. Austin shows how, in his own investigations, unpredictable events shaped the outcome of his research and brought about novel results. He then goes beyond this story of serendipity to propose a new classification of the varieties of chance, drawing on his own research and examples from the history of science--including the famous accidents that led Fleming to the discovery of penicillin. Finally, he explores the nature of the creative process, considering not only the environmental and neurophysiological correlates of creativity but also the role of intuition in both scientific discoveries and spiritual quests. This updated MIT Press paperback edition includes a new introduction and recent material on medical research, creativity, and spirituality..
Price: $7.76
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