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The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed
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The author of the bestseller The Disappearing Spoon reveals the secret inner workings of the brain through strange but true stories.
Early studies of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike -- strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, horrendous accidents -- and see how victims coped. In many cases their survival was miraculous, if puzzling. Observers were amazed by the transformations that took place when different parts of the brain were destroyed, altering victims' personalities. Parents suddenly couldn't recognize their own children. Pillars of the community became pathological liars. Some people couldn't speak but could still sing.
In The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, Sam Kean travels through time with stories of neurological curiosities: phantom limbs, Siamese twin brains, viruses that eat patients' memories, blind people who see through their tongues. He weaves these narratives together with prose that makes the pages fly by, to create a story of discovery that reaches back to the 1500s and the high-profile jousting accident that inspired this book's title.* With the lucid, masterful explanations and razor-sharp wit his fans have come to expect, Kean explores the brain's secret passageways and recounts the forgotten tales of the ordinary people whose struggles, resilience, and deep humanity made neuroscience possible.
*"The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons" refers to the case of French king Henri II, who in 1559 was lanced through the skull during a joust, resulting in one of the most significant cases in neuroscience history. For hundreds of years scientists have gained important lessons from traumatic accidents and illnesses, and such misfortunes still represent their greatest resource for discovery.
- Sales Rank: #304442 in Books
- Published on: 2014-05-06
- Released on: 2014-05-06
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.75" h x 1.50" w x 6.50" l, 1.40 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 416 pages
From Booklist
Science writer Kean explores the vagaries and inconsistencies of the human brain via diverting stories that chronicle medical science’s fits and starts. To say these are diverting is, however, an oversimplification since their subjects—primarily unfortunate individuals with brain injuries—command sympathy if not empathy. Yet Kean’s focus is on their contribution to the field of neuroscience along with, in too many instances, the misguided misinformation of the medical professionals who treated them. Take the case of France’s King Henry II. When he lost his right eye plus a bit of his brain to a poorly aimed jousting spear, his physicians’ limited knowledge of the brain’s physiognomy cost him his life. Then there’s President Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, whose undiagnosed bipolar mind was further addled by syphilis and who, naturally . . . thought himself fit for politics. To pick up one of these stories is to lose oneself in them. Where does the brain end and the mind begin? Curious readers will find both brain and mind fully revved up while engaging with this powerfully appealing and thought-provoking work of neuroscience history. --Donna Chavez
Review
Longlisted for the 2015 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award
One of Amazon's Best Books of the Year: Science
One of The A.V. Club's Best Books of 2014
A Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist: Nonfiction
"This is Sam Kean's finest work yet, an entertaining and offbeat history of the brain populated with mad scientists, deranged criminals, geniuses, and wretched souls. The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons is one of those books that will have you following your friends around, reading passages out loud, until they snatch the book away from you and read it for themselves. Good luck getting it back."―Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist
"Put your Netflix queue on hold. Sam Kean's The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons will command your full attention from the first page. It's not just an engaging guide to mysteries of existence; it's compelling story-telling for anyone with a taste for the bizarre and metaphysical."―William Poundstone, author of Rock Breaks Scissors
"In tale after tale, best-selling author Kean provides a fascinating, and at times gloriously gory, look at how early efforts in neurosurgery were essentially a medical guessing game.... Entertaining and quotable, Kean's writing is sharp, and each individual story brings the history of neuroscience to life. Compulsively readable, wicked scientific fun."―Kirkus
"Reading this collection is like touring a museum of neuroscience's most dramatic anomalies, each chapter taking us to a different place and time.... Kean's colloquial language and intimate voice bring all of this series of mini-histories to life -- all of which are sure to stimulate a wide range of brains."―Publishers Weekly
"[Kean] proves an able guide, connecting each story with the science behind it, always with an air of enthusiastic curiosity."―Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe
"[Kean's] strength lies in his storytelling, and in the humane combination of humor and compassion toward the strange life histories he pieces together.... Kean has a penchant for the kind of vivid description that makes one want to clutch one's head tenderly close."―Margaret Quamme, Columbus Dispatch
"To pick up one of these stories is to lose oneself in them. Where does the brain end and the mind begin? Curious readers will find both brain and mind fully revved up while engaging with this powerfully appealing and thought-provoking work of neuroscience history."―Donna Chavez, Booklist
"The author's skill in illuminating how the brain functions and malfunctions manifest themselves in people's lives makes for absorbing reading....These avowals ultimately raise weighty, compelling questions about the nature of identity and what it means to be human."―The Wall Street Journal
"Strokes, seizures, accidents: if they don't kill, they can traumatize the brain so badly that an individual's personality can be significantly changed. But, explains New York Times best-selling author of the terrific The Violinist's Thumb, early neuroscientists saw such traumas as an opportunity to study the brain's wondrous workings."―Library Journal, "Barbara's Picks"
"Beyond paying tribute to the scientific advances these patients made possible, Kean humanizes the patients themselves."―Scientific American
"After tackling DNA and the periodic table in his previous books, Kean has moved on to the human brain, which he dissects via dozens of vivid anecdotes.... His subtle meta touches are a heady delight."―Joe McGovern, Entertainment Weekly
"Sam Kean can spin a tale as well as any fiction writer....Kean is a rare writer who approaches science writing as a child would a playground at recess. It's a wide-open field full of possibilities, limited only by the surroundings and what our imaginations can do with them."―PopMatters
"In the capable hands of science writer Sam Kean, stories of brain injuries shine just a bit brighter, illuminating not only the interesting characters delivering bedside diagnoses or lying on the examination table, but general principles of scientific discovery that are still relevant today....Kean breathes life into the patients as well as the physicians and scientists tasked with understanding the injuries."―The Scientist
Kean is "science's premier storyteller, the man who regularly turns the history of science into sagas filled with adventure, mystery, fascinating people, and fun."―The Washington Post
"Entrancing.... Sam Kean burrows into the workings of an organ once deemed as unknowable as the far reaches of the galaxy, and does so with boyish charm, accessible language, a prodigious amount of enthusiasm and the sobering realization that throughout history a catastrophic brain injury has ghoulishly been the neuroscientists best friend."―James Macgowan, Toronto Star
"These stories are entertaining....But they're also illuminating, as Kean shows how each one advanced scientific knowledge."―Washingtonian
"Kean delves into a scientific world before modern technology, and tells the stories of people who had sudden changes in personality, felt phantom limbs, pathologically lied, and experienced other mysteries traced back to the brain. He does so with humor and humanity, making the mind-boggling history of neuroscience a fun read."―Nicole Dubowitz, DCist
"Crammed with curious anecdotes from neuroscience's gory past."―Nature
"Mesmerizing.... With a razor-edged wit and intriguing narrative, the pages are easily devoured, all while Kean explores the deepest labyrinths of the brain."―Mellinda Hensley, Los Angeles Magazine
"Dueling Neurosurgeons will confirm Kean's already-solid reputation as a writer who can make anything understandable and interesting.[...] Although hugely entertaining (perhaps especially so in this era of vampire and zombie fascination), Kean's book contains amazingly clear details about our brains."―Winnipeg Free Press
"Engrossing, cleverly narrated."―Simon Lewsen, The Globe and Mail
"Breezy, informal, entertaining stories that link what we now know of the nervous system to events and personalities of the past."―James W. Kalat, American Psychological Association's PsycCRITIQUES
About the Author
Sam Kean is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist's Thumb. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Mental Floss, Slate, and New Scientist, and has been featured on NPR's "Radiolab" and "All Things Considered."
Most helpful customer reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
Fascinating History of the Brain & How It Works
By Maxine McLister
In today's world, there are many ways to look at the brain and how it functions but, in the past, doctors and scientists had to depend on personal observation. In The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, science writer Sam Kean, gives us a fascinating looks at both the unfortunate folk whose maladies, syndromes, and injuries led to a better understanding of the brain and the doctors and scientists who treated and learned from them.
Kean looks at such phenomena as phantom limbs and syndromes like Cotard's in which sufferers are convinced they are dead. Among the anecdotes Kean relates is that of King Henry II of France in the 16th c. who began to have seizures and bouts of paralysis after being injured by a lance through his eye during a jousting match. Oddly, only one side of his body was affected. His doctors considered opening his skull but, given that he was the king, that seemed a tad dangerous for all concerned so, instead, they examined the brains of executed prisoners. Henry eventually died of a brain hemorrhage but his case hinted at what later doctors would discover, that the two sides of the brain control different functions. And then there's the case of Phineas Gage whose skull and brain were pierced by a tamping iron in an industrial accident. Gage remained conscious and seemingly unfazed throughout the ordeal of having it removed but, afterwards, his personality changed completely.
Kean's chatty and often humourous way of describing scientific discoveries not only makes the science accessible to all but it makes it a whole lot of fun to read. However, he doesn't just relate anecdotes. Instead, he humanizes these patients making them more than their misfortunes and the learning they provide, something that science writers too rarely do.
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
EXCELLENT
By faithful reader
Having read both of Sam's other books already, I was really looking forward to his latest. I was NOT disappointed at all! The research is detailed enough to explain neuroscientific processes without leaving us non science majors deep in the weeds. Sam's writing style incorporates humor into the discussion while providing what seems to be (to me) a primer on the evolution of the discoveries and how those were applied in real life to try to improve patients with Neuro issues. Bravo, Mr. Kean. I will be looking forward to more from you. Highly recommended.
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
"Where Does The Brain Stop And The Mind Start?"
By London Fog
Relying solely on anecdotal case studies, 'The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons' nonetheless presents an elucidating and informative tour through the neural connections of the human brain via the true stories of individuals affected by severe trauma. While it does lack the sophistication that would be more in evidence were it to have been authored by someone with a medical degree, the intent of this book was to make an attempt at exploring the resilience and functionality of localized areas of the human brain, with emphasis placed on how the mind can be affected when the brain is damaged. On that account, there is no question how well 'The Dueling Neurosurgeons' succeeded.
In what is an eminently readable introduction to the intricacies of neural connections and how they relate to our every thought and motion, the subject is approached from the angle that science's most effective means of understanding which sections control what specific functions is to this day best demonstrated by studying the effects of traumatic injuries. This is conveyed splendidly, and, for a medical layman, in a remarkably erudite manner. The information is certainly related in a way that the uninitiated can easily follow, without resorting to softening its intellectual merit.
Not only was it an excellent introduction to such complicated subject matter, I appreciated Mr Kean's inclusion of biographical and intimate details surrounding the men and women involved, so that that the subjects are never dehumanized, but made all the more sympathetic from these before and after glimpses of their lives. As a former psychology major, I found that aspect sorely lacking in the more academic texts - the professionals would do well to take a cue from Mr Kean in that regard.
In offering some captivating evidence that the mind and brain are of course the same, yet entirely separate entities, this book proves its merits many times over. At the very least, it provokes scientific curiosity and was an entertaining form of education - the very best sort. Though the topic could have been a slog in less capable hands, I devoured it with relish in half a day.
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