The Brain: Big Bangs, Behaviors, and Beliefs co-authored by Museum curators Rob DeSalle and Ian Tattersall taps into the latest findings in evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and molecular biology. The authors explain how the cognitive gulf that separates us from all other living creatures could have occurred. They discuss the development and uniqueness of human consciousness, how human and nonhuman brains work, the roles of different nerve cells, the importance of memory and language in brain functions, and much more. Our brains, they conclude, are the product of a lengthy and supremely untidy history - an evolutionary process of many zigs and zags - that has accidentally resulted in a splendidly eccentric and creative product.
Authors: Rob DeSalle and Ian Tattersall
Illustrator: Patricia J Wynne
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publishing Date: 2012
Softcover: 354 pages
