100 Best Neurology Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks

5.0

If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self—himself—he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it. Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent t

Recommended by Bradley Voytek, Suzanne O'Sullivan, and Tanya Byron.

Bradley Voytek

I can’t imagine one day waking up and not knowing who my wife is, or seeing my wife and thinking that she was replaced by some sort of clone or robot. But that could happen to any of us. [source]

Suzanne O'Sullivan

I didn’t choose neurology because of it but the way Oliver Sacks writes about neurology is very compelling. [source]

Tanya Byron

This is a seminal book that anyone who wants to work in mental health should read. It is a charming and gentle and also an honest exposé of what can happen to us when our mental health is compromised for whatever reason. [source]

2

The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Norman Doidge

4.8

Preview Summary

An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they’ve transformed - people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable. We see a wo

Recommended by Carol Dweck, Bogdana Butnar, and Naveen Jain.

Carol Dweck

For me it was exciting to read this book because while my research shows a growth mindset is really good for you, this book shows that a growth mindset also has a strong basis in modern neuroscience. It illustrates, though fascinating case histories and descriptions of recent research, the amazing power of the brain to change and even to reorganise itself with practice and experience. [source]

Bogdana Butnar

I don't have favourite books. I equate a favourite something with wanting to do it over and over again and I've never wanted to read a book too many times. I have favourite authors and I have books that changed me in significant ways because they moved me or taught me something or changed my view of the world. So, here's some of those books... [source]

Naveen Jain

I think the book that I really, really enjoy was, "The Brain That Changes Itself." It's all about neuroplasticity, you'd really love that book. [source]

3

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman

4.8

Preview Summary

Major New York Times bestseller
Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012
Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011
A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title
One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
One of The Wall Street Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011
2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

In the internatio

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Ev Williams, and 45 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

A few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? [source]

4

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Matthew Walker

4.7

Preview Summary

“Why We Sleep is an important and fascinating book…Walker taught me a lot about this basic activity that every person on Earth needs. I suspect his book will do the same for you.” —Bill Gates

A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this “stimulating and important book” (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber.

With two appearances on CBS This Mor

Recommended by Bill Gates, Brad Feld, Alexis Ohanian Sr., and 11 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Explains how neglecting sleep undercuts your creativity, problem solving, decision-making, learning, memory, heart health, brain health, mental health, emotional well-being, immune system, and even your life span. [source]

Brad Feld

Co-Founder/Foundry Group

Several friends, who know I both love to sleep and am intrigued with how sleep works, recommended that I read Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. It was excellent. While my self-assessment of my sleep habits are very positive, I learned a few things. More importantly, I now have a much better understanding of the “Why” surrounding sleep, especially around sleep’s importance to a healthy and long life. [source]

Alexis Ohanian Sr.

Agree! Best book I've read this year. Wasted so many hours just proving to myself I'd be the last one up working at @reddit and for what??? Stupid. Diminishing marginal returns after enough hours without sleep. https://t.co/cT7fDNBF3A [source]

5

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

Susannah Cahalan

4.6

Preview Summary

An award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity.

When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been o

Recommended by Jessica Flitter and Joann Corleyschwarzkopf.

Jessica Flitter

The readability for me is probably the key element for students—and maybe for teachers as well—because it’s a book that you really can’t put down. If that’s what we need to make students readers, then I’m all for it. [source]

Joann Corleyschwarzkopf

Need a fun boost for your team? Want to jump-start great problem-solving? >Book a 1-hour #creativethinking, virtual experience & get a complimentary pdf copy - Brain on Fire: Unleashing Your Creative Superpowers! for each attendee #teambuilding Info here: https://t.co/j6hOxMJrNH https://t.co/b9hAxV90Mf [source]

Cover unavailable

6

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

Oliver Sacks

4.5

With the same trademark compassion and erudition he brought to The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition. In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls “musical misalignments.” Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire gr

Recommended by Aniela Gregorek and Justin Boreta.

Aniela Gregorek

I gained a deeper understanding of how music affects our moods and our brains. [source]

Justin Boreta

Justin Boreta said this is one of his most-recommended books. [source]

7

An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales

Oliver Sacks

4.5

Paradoxical portraits of seven neurological patients, including a surgeon consumed by the compulsive tics of Tourette's syndrome unless he is operating; an artist who loses all sense of color in a car accident, but finds new creative power in black & white; & others.

Recommended by Alexandra Horowitz.

Alexandra Horowitz

Sacks’s books are an inspiration to me in bringing together scientific and philosophical reflections on various human conditions. [source]

Cover unavailable

8

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

Charles Duhigg

4.5

Preview Summary

A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.

Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new produ

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Blake Irving, Alden Mills, and 15 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I also recently finished The Power of Habit, or close to finish as I get. That one was interesting, not because of its content necessarily, but because it’s good for me to always keep on top of mind how powerful my habits are. … I think learning how to break habits is a very important meta-skill that can serve you better in life than almost anything else. Although you can read tons of books on it, the reality is you’re never going to learn how to break bad habits until you just break them. [source]

Blake Irving

CEO/GoDaddy

You know, there's a book called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Simple read book about just how to build positive habits that can be I think I what I'd call you know whether in your personal life or whether in your business life to help you build you know, have a loop that can build your success and that's one I mean there are so many great books out there. [source]

Alden Mills

More recent books that have had a significant impact on me are The Power of Habit and The Diamond Cutter. Both represent different forces for me – the former helps me tactically with making incremental improvements in my life. [source]

9

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Robert M. Sapolsky

4.4

Preview Summary

The New York Times bestseller

"It's no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read." --David P. Barash, The Wall Street Journal

"It has my vote for science book of the year." --Parul Sehgal, The New York Times

"Hands-down one of the best books I've read in years. I loved it." --Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washin

Recommended by Sam Harris, Vinod Khosla, and Bryan Johnson.

Sam Harris

I highly recommend. It really is the most accessible discussion of brain science you will find. [source]

Vinod Khosla

Co-Founder/Sun Microsystem

Among the best insights into our brain and behavior. A top of the charts for me for this year, along with Scale. [source]

Bryan Johnson

Bryan Johnson recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

10

Awakenings

Oliver Sacks

4.4

Awakenings--which inspired the major motion picture--is the remarkable story of a group of patients who contracted sleeping-sickness during the great epidemic just after World War I. Frozen for decades in a trance-like state, these men and women were given up as hopeless until 1969, when Dr. Oliver Sacks gave them the then-new drug L-DOPA, which had an astonishing, explosive, "awakening" effect. D

Recommended by Will Self.

Will Self

I must have first read this book in the early eighties, and found it – like a lot of Sacks’s writing – absolutely fascinating. Not just because of the philosophical and scientific perspectives that he is involved in, but because of his involuntary self-characterisation. I used some of Sacks’s modes and mannerisms quite shamelessly as one of the sources for my character Zack Busner, who is a repeat presence in my fictions. So in a way the seeds of Umbrella were planted here, many years ago. [source]

11

Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind

V. S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee, et al.

4.4

Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments -- using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandr

Recommended by Lewis Wolpert.

Lewis Wolpert

It’s really about how people who have some physical injury to their brain can have fantasies that bear no relationship to reality whatsoever. [source]

12

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

Michael Pollan

4.4

Preview Summary

Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America's most admired writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the frontiers of human consciousness

When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on the cusp of psychological revolution. It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness, as well as offer

Recommended by Daniel Goleman, Yuval Noah Harari, Andrew Weil, and 5 others.

Daniel Goleman

Author

Michael Pollan masterfully guides us through the highs, lows, and highs again of psychedelic drugs. How to Change Your mind chronicles how it’s been a longer and stranger trip than most any of us knew. [source]

Yuval Noah Harari

Historian

Changed my mind, or at least some of the ideas held in my mind. [source]

Andrew Weil

Michael Pollan assembles a great deal of information here on the history, science, and effects of psychedelics. I found his frank recounting of his recent experiences with LSD, psilocybin, and toad venom most revealing. They appear to have softened his materialistic views and opened him to the possibilities of higher consciousness. He did, indeed, change his mind. [source]

13

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

4.4

Preview Summary

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a bo

Recommended by Ev Williams, Mike Shinoda, Marillyn Hewson, and 4 others.

Mike Shinoda

I know most of the guys in the band read this book. [source]

Marillyn Hewson

CEO/Lockheed Martin

CEO Marilyn Hewson recommends this book because it helped her to trust her instincts in business. [source]

Antonio Eram

When asked to name some books that had a big impact on him, Antonio mentioned Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. [source]

14

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Joshua Foer

4.4

Preview Summary

The blockbuster phenomenon that charts an amazing journey of the mind while revolutionizing our concept of memory

An instant bestseller that is poised to become a classic, Moonwalking with Einstein recounts Joshua Foer's yearlong quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top "mental athletes." He draws on cutting-edge research, a surprising cultural history of remembering, and venerable tri

Recommended by Bill Gates, Chelsea Handler, Deborah Blum, and 4 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Of the five books I finished over vacation, the one that impressed me the most – and that is probably of broadest interest – is Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by science writer Joshua Foer. This is an absolutely phenomenal book that looks at memory and techniques for dramatically improving memory. Foer actually mastered these techniques, which led him to the finals of the U.S. Memory Championship. His book gives fascinating insights into how the mind works. [source]

Chelsea Handler

It has changed my life and made me embarrass myself much less when meeting someone twice. [source]

Deborah Blum

This book focuses not so much on the scientists but more on the consequence and meaning of memory for the rest of us. Within the framework of a memory championship, Foer looks at this almost obsessive interest in learning, how to remember everything. He asks the really interesting philosophical question, which is, are we defined by what we remember? [source]

15

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely

4.4

Preview Summary

Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?

Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't possibly be caught?

Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are a

Recommended by Max Levchin, Vinod Khosla, Vinod Khosla, and 22 others.

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?" [source]

Andra Zaharia

'While I was thinking of the best books to add to this short list, I realized that not even half of them are directly related to digital marketing. This is because I believe that the best marketers are people who understand human nature deeply and aim to bring out the best in it. Call me naive, but that’s how I see it. If I were to want to pursue a career in marketing, I’d read … Predictably Irrational. [source]

Chris Goward

Here are some of the books that have been very impactful for me, or taught me a new way of thinking: … Predictably Irrational. [source]

16

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

Daniel Goleman

4.4

Preview Summary

Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our "two minds"—the rational and the emotional—and how they together shape our destiny.

Through vivid examples, Goleman delineates the five crucia

Recommended by Drew Houston, Drew Huston, Magda Marcu, and 4 others.

Drew Houston

CEO/Dropbox

It’s nonfiction, but it spelled out something that I just didn’t know you could kind of break down in a logical way. And, suddenly, I had this understanding about the world that I didn’t have before. [source]

Magda Marcu

One of the most eye opening for me was “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” as it offered a different perspective on leadership, and how empathy can make you a more successful leader. Every person has some degree of empathy and through this book you understand how to apply it more intently. [source]

Robert Kelsey

Yes, that’s the key revelation. But another key element, which was quite revelatory for me when I read it, is about the impact of fear on your brain. The impact of fear as a physiological response was well known when he wrote the book, but what was less well known was the idea of fear as a neurological response. He pointed to research showing what happens to the brain when fear is triggered, and it’s very damaging. There’s a part of the brain called the amygdala, which is part of the limbic system, and deals with emotions such as fear and distress. Its main purpose is to alert you to danger and it sends an emergency signal. All those physiological responses you have are basically the body’s response to that emergency signal. That’s what people experience when they experience fear, but it’s not just the fear of a dog barking at you or someone attacking you, it’s fear based on a fear conditioning. These are moments when something happens to you that induces fear or distress, and can include fear of failure or fear of being upset, and the same response occurs. [source]

17

Hallucinations

Oliver Sacks

4.4

Have you ever seen something that wasn’t really there? Heard someone call your name in an empty house? Sensed someone following you and turned around to find nothing?

Hallucinations don’t belong wholly to the insane. Much more commonly, they are linked to sensory deprivation, intoxication, illness, or injury. People with migraines may see shimmering arcs of light or tiny, Lilliputian figures of an

Cover unavailable

18

The Mind's Eye

Oliver W. Sacks

4.4

In Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks explored music and the brain; now, in The Mind's Eye, he writes about the myriad ways in which we experience the visual world: how we see in three dimensions; how we recognize individual faces or places; how we use language to communicate verbally; how we translate marks on paper into words and paragraphs; and, even how we represent the world internally when our eyes

19

When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi

4.3

Preview Summary

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve me

Recommended by Bill Gates, Ryan Holiday, Bethany S. Mandel, and 2 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

I don’t know how Kalanithi found the physical strength to write this book while he was so debilitated by the disease and then potent chemotherapy. But I’m so glad he did. He spent his whole brief life searching for meaning in one way or another -- through books, writing, medicine, surgery, and science. I’m grateful that, by reading this book, I got to witness a small part of that journey. I just wish the journey hadn’t been cut so short [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

Despite its popularity, When Breath Becomes Air is actually underrated. It’s make-you-cry good. [source]

Bethany S. Mandel

More Shabbat reading recommendations: This book was breathtaking and such a powerful advertisement for the joy of parenthood. https://t.co/V8BH97eiL9 [source]

20

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School

John Medina

4.3

Preview Summary

Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know—like the need for physical activity to get your brain working its best.

How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget—and so important to repeat new knowledge

Recommended by Bill Gates, James Altucher, Dmitry Dragilev, and 1 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Discusses how to keep your brain healthy. [source]

Dmitry Dragilev

There’s a book called Brain Rules, also a great book, by John Medina, sort of like how your brain works. [source]

Cover unavailable

21

The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human

V. S. Ramachandran

4.3

V. S. Ramachandran is at the forefront of his field-so much so that Richard Dawkins dubbed him the "Marco Polo of neuroscience." Now, in a major new work, Ramachandran sets his sights on the mystery of human uniqueness. Taking us to the frontiers of neurology, he reveals what baffling and extreme case studies can teach us about normal brain function and how it evolved. Synesthesia becomes a window

22

Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain

Antonio Damasio

4.3

Since Descartes famously proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person’s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—"one of the world’s leading

Recommended by David Brooks and Paul Thagard.

David Brooks

Damasio worked with people who have suffered strokes and as a result are incapable of feeling emotion. And far from making good decisions, they make terrible decisions, and their lives fall apart. [source]

Paul Thagard

This book understood emotion in terms of what the brain does – not as a kind of abstract computational process but very much tied in with the particular brain processes. [source]

23

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

David Eagleman

4.3

If the conscious mind—the part you consider you—accounts for only a tiny fraction of the brain’s function, what is all the rest doing? This is the question that David Eagleman—renowned neuroscientist and acclaimed author of Sum—answers in a book as accessible and entertaining as it is deeply informed by startling, up-to-the-minute research.

Recommended by Seth Godin, Louis Grenier, and Rand Fishkin.

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

At a conference I recently attended, David talked about his work. It's all anyone discussed for the next two days. This book will help you understand the meat/electricity/chemicals you're carrying around inside your head better than you ever have before. [source]

Louis Grenier

“Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain” and “Predictably Irrational” are 2 very good books on psychology that I think you should read. [source]

24

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

Maryanne Wolf

4.3

Preview Summary

The act of reading is a miracle. Every new reader's brain possesses the extraordinary capacity to rearrange itself beyond its original abilities in order to understand written symbols. But how does the brain learn to read? As world-renowned cognitive neuroscientist and scholar of reading Maryanne Wolf explains in this impassioned book, we taught our brain to read only a few thousand years ago, and

Recommended by Peg Tyre.

Peg Tyre

Read this and you will never again hand your iPhone to your child in the stroller. You will start talking to them and pointing out colours. [source]

25

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

4.3

Preview Summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Simple, smart, and effective solutions to your child’s struggles.”—Harvey Karp, M.D.

“Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson have created a masterly, reader-friendly guide to helping children grow their emotional intelligence. This brilliant method transforms everyday interactions into valuable brain-shaping moments. Anyone who cares for children—or who loves a child—should r

Recommended by Genevieve Von Lob and Graham Duncan.

Genevieve Von Lob

Siegel uses what neuroscience tells us about how a child’s brain develops to provide practical tips for parents. [source]

Graham Duncan

Graham Duncan recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

26

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain

4.3

Preview Summary

The book that started the Quiet Revolution

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.

In Quiet, Susan Cain a

Recommended by Simon Sinek, Danielle Morrill, Emma Watson, and 10 others.

Simon Sinek

Author

Leaders needn’t be the loudest. Leadership is not about theater. It’s not about dominance. It is about putting the lives of others before any other priority. In Quiet, Cain affirms to a good many of us who are introverts by nature that we needn’t try to be extroverts if we want to lead. Simply being ourselves is more important — and more effective. [source]

Danielle Morrill

Co-founder/Mattermark

Anyway, maybe you’re like me and figuring this out for yourself. It’s a good book for introverts and for those who love them [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Probably half the world is introverts. Maybe more. It’s not an easy life to live. I sometimes have that feeling in a room full of people, “uh-oh. I just shut down. I can’t talk anymore and there’s a lock on my mouth and this crowd threw away the key.” Do you ever get that feeling? Please? I hope you do. Let’s try to lock eyes at the party. “Quiet” shows the reader how to unlock the secret powers that probably half the world needs to unlock. [source]

27

The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Iain McGilchrist

4.3

Preview Summary

A new edition of the bestselling classic – published with a special introduction to mark its 10th anniversary

This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain – the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the ‘rational’ side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true?

Drawing on a vast bod

28

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language

Steven Pinker

4.3

Preview Summary

The classic book on the development of human language by the world’s leading expert on language and the mind.

In this classic, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker w

Recommended by Lane Greene and Simon Baron-Cohen.

Lane Greene

There are two achievements in this book. One is to smuggle Linguistics 101 into a popular book, which is just fantastic. The other is his own argument about the nature of language, and the title says it all. [source]

Simon Baron-Cohen

It’s a really wonderful example of what you can do: take research into something as fundamental to human nature as language and make it accessible to a wide audience. [source]

29

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

Jill Bolte Taylor

4.3

Preview Summary

The astonishing New York Times bestseller that chronicles how a brain scientist's own stroke led to enlightenment

On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven- year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist experienced a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. As she observed her mind deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life-all

Recommended by Maya Zlatanova.

Maya Zlatanova

One of the books that had the biggest impact on Maya. [source]

30

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Daniel J. Levitin

4.3

Whether you load your iPod with Bach or Bono, music has a significant role in your life—even if you never realized it. Why does music evoke such powerful moods? The answers are at last be- coming clear, thanks to revolutionary neuroscience and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology. Both a cutting-edge study and a tribute to the beauty of music itself, This Is Your Brain on Music unravels a

Recommended by Vinod Khosla and Justin Boreta.

Vinod Khosla

Co-Founder/Sun Microsystem

Fascinating though older book. [source]

Justin Boreta

Goes into the evolutionary thinking behind why music does what it does. [source]

31

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

John J. Ratey

4.3

Preview Summary

The authors embark upon a fascinating journey through the mind-body connection, showing how exercise is truly our best defense against everything from depression to ADD, from addiction to Alzheimer's.

32

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery

Sam Kean

4.3

From the author of the bestseller The Disappearing Spoon, tales of the brain and the history of neuroscience.

Early studies of the functions of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike-strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, lobotomies, horrendous accidents-and see how the victim coped. In many cases survival was miraculous, and observers could only marvel at the transf

33

The Brain: The Story of You

David Eagleman

4.2

Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, your brain fashions the rich narratives of your reality and your identity. Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman for a journey into the questions at the mysterious heart of our existence. What is reality? Who are “you”? How do you make decisions? Why does your brain need other people? How is technology poised to change what it means to be hum

Cover unavailable

34

On the Move: A Life

Oliver Sacks

4.2

When Oliver Sacks was twelve years old, a perceptive schoolmaster wrote in his report: “Sacks will go far, if he does not go too far.” It is now abundantly clear that Sacks has never stopped going. From its opening pages on his youthful obsession with motorcycles and speed, On the Move is infused with his restless energy. As he recounts his experiences as a young neurologist in the early 1960s, fi

Recommended by Morten Kringelbach.

Morten Kringelbach

I became interested in neuroscience was because of the way Oliver Sacks uses stories to illuminate science. [source]

35

How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain

Lisa Barrett

4.2

Preview Summary

“Fascinating . . . A thought-provoking journey into emotion science.” — Wall Street Journal

“A singular book, remarkable for the freshness of its ideas and the boldness and clarity with which they are presented.” — Scientific American

“A brilliant and original book on the science of emotion, by the deepest thinker about this topic since Darwin.” — Daniel Gilbert, best-selling author of Stumbling o

Recommended by Kirk Borne and Margaret Morris.

Kirk Borne

As #AI moves toward #AGI with #NeuralNetworks, deeper understanding of Emotion Science is critical! See "How Emotions Are Made — The Secret Life of the Brain" by @LFeldmanBarrett Get the book: https://t.co/MH4f0mgnrs Watch her amazing video on @TEDTalks https://t.co/hPFB1vx4me https://t.co/hzZ4z2RCIr [source]

Margaret Morris

I appreciate Lisa Feldman Barrett’s argument that we can become the architects of our experiences. She pushes against the idea that events trigger emotions in a predetermined way and suggests we find the most specific language possible to describe our experiences and feelings. This specificity may propel us to move forward from challenges in a constructive way. [source]

Cover unavailable

36

Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases

Hal Blumenfeld

4.2

Neuroanatomy through Clinical Cases brings a pioneering, interactive approach to the teaching of neuroanatomy. In addition to original, full-color illustrations of normal human neuroanatomy, the book features over 100 actual clinical cases and over 250 high-quality radiological images to bring the subject to life. This approach allows students to appreciate the clinical relevance of structural det

37

The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness

Antonio R. Damasio

4.2

The publication of this book is an event in the making. All over the world scientists, psychologists, and philosophers are waiting to read Antonio Damasio's new theory of the nature of consciousness and the construction of the self. A renowned and revered scientist and clinician, Damasio has spent decades following amnesiacs down hospital corridors, waiting for comatose patients to awaken, and dev

Recommended by Carol Gilligan and Suzana Herculano-Houzel.

Carol Gilligan

Damasio distinguishes between a core sense of self, grounded in the body and in emotions, and the autobiographical self. [source]

Suzana Herculano-Houzel

This book was really ground breaking and a real turning point for neuroscience. [source]

38

How the Mind Works

Steven Pinker

4.2

In this extraordinary bestseller, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading cognitive scientists, does for the rest of the mind what he did for language in his 1994 book, The Language Instinct. He explains what the mind is, how it evolved, and how it allows us to see, think, feel, laugh, interact, enjoy the arts, and ponder the mysteries of life. And he does it with the wit that prompted Mark Ridl

Recommended by Dan Kaminsky.

Dan Kaminsky

@DanielMiessler @balajis How The Mind Works being the formative book of my intellectual career makes this particularly interesting. I don’t always agree with Pinker but that’s not a requirement. [source]

39

Tuesdays with Morrie

Mitch Albom

4.2

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights fad

40

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

Sam Harris

4.2

Preview Summary

For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris’s new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology.

From multiple New York Times bestselling author, neuroscientist, and “new atheist” Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, R

Recommended by Susan Cain, Chris Goward, Fabrice Grinda, and 1 others.

Susan Cain

Author

Such a fantastic book. And it was really, for me, completely lifechanging. [source]

Chris Goward

I also highly recommend Sam Harris' Waking Up, which is a more well-rounded unpacking of non-religious mindfulness practice. [source]

Fabrice Grinda

Very well thought through analysis of spirituality without religion. [source]

41

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

Robert Sapolsky

4.2

Preview Summary

Renowned primatologist Robert Sapolsky offers a completely revised and updated edition of his most popular work, with nearly 90,000 copies in print

Now in a third edition, Robert M. Sapolsky's acclaimed and successful Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers features new chapters on how stress affects sleep and addiction, as well as new insights into anxiety and personality disorder and the impact of spirituali

Recommended by Oliver Sacks.

Oliver Sacks

Neurologist, Author

Robert M. Sapolsky is one of the best science writers of our time. [source]

42

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Brian Christian and Griffiths

4.2

Preview Summary

A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind

All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we

Recommended by Doug McMillon, Chris Oliver, Emi Gal, and 2 others.

Doug McMillon

CEO/Walmart

Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly. [source]

Chris Oliver

This is a great book talking about how you can use computer science to help you make decisions in life. How do you know when to make a decision on the perfect house? Car? etc? It helps you apply algorithms to making those decisions optimally without getting lost. [source]

Emi Gal

When asked what books he would recommend to young people interested in his career path, mentioned Algorithms to Live By. [source]

43

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

Julian Jaynes

4.2

At the heart of this seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that consciousness didn't begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only 3000 years ago & is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually all aspects of psychology, history & religion.
Preface
Introduction
The mind of man
The c

Recommended by Adam Robinson, Adam Robinson, Bret Victor, and 1 others.

Adam Robinson

One of five books (this one perhaps most of all) that confirm there is far, far more in our unconscious mind than is dreamt of in our philosophy. [source]

Adam Robinson

One of five books (this one perhaps most of all) that confirm there is far, far more in our unconscious mind than is dreamt of in our philosophy. [source]

Susan Blackmore

Jaynes thinks we only started talking and thinking about consciousness and the problem of consciousness within historical times. [source]

44

In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind

Eric R. Kandel

4.2

Nobel Prize winner Kandel intertwines cogntive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology with his own quest to understand memory.

45

NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently

Steve Silberman

4.2

NeuroTribes is a sweeping and penetrating history, presented with a rare sympathy and sensitivity. It will change how you think of autism.' - From the foreword by Oliver Sacks

What is autism: a devastating developmental condition, a lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more - and the futur

Recommended by Barry Prizant.

Barry Prizant

Neurotribes lays down the history and the philosophy of our need to respect people with autism. [source]

46

When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales of Neurosurgery

Frank T Vertosick Jr. MD, Kirby Heyborne, et al

4.2

"This book should be read by every medical student, doctor and present or potential patient. In other words, by all of us."
--Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of Love, Medicine and Miracles

Rule One for the neurologist in residence: "You ain't never the same when the air hits your brain." In this fascinating book, Dr. Frank Vertosick brings that fact to life through intimate portraits of patients and unspa

47

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

Henry Marsh

4.2

What is it like to be a brain surgeon? How does it feel to hold someone's life in your hands, to cut into the stuff that creates thought, feeling, and reason? How do you live with the consequences of performing a potentially lifesaving operation when it all goes wrong?

In neurosurgery, more than in any other branch of medicine, the doctor's oath to "do no harm" holds a bitter irony. Operations on t

48

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

4.2

Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers at

Recommended by Steve Jurvetson, Seth Godin, Cory Zue, and 2 others.

Steve Jurvetson

Steve Jurvetson recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

In the last week, I discovered that at least two of my smart friends hadn't read Godel, Escher, Bach. They have now. You should too. [source]

Cory Zue

More recently books like Godel, Escher, Bach and Sapiens have influenced my thinking a lot. [source]

49

On Intelligence: How a New Understanding of the Brain Will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines

Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee

4.2

From the inventor of the PalmPilot comes a new and compelling theory of intelligence, brain function, and the future of intelligent machines

Jeff Hawkins, the man who created the PalmPilot, Treo smart phone, and other handheld devices, has reshaped our relationship to computers. Now he stands ready to revolutionize both neuroscience and computing in one stroke, with a new understanding of intellige

Recommended by Ev Williams and Joan Boixados.

Joan Boixados

I’m reading “On intelligence” by Jeff Hawkins. I am really enjoying it. It’s a very specific theory of how our brain learns and makes predictions (the root of our intelligence) explained for average people unfamiliar with the field. It’s also very related to computer science and artificial intelligence since it tried to prove the current approaches to those are flawed. I’m getting a better understanding of how our brain works and how does our behaviour affects our thinking as much as our thinking affects our behaviour. Thus, it’s interesting to connect it with the idea of habits and how we can really benefit from them. [source]

50

The Brain's Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity

Norman Doidge

4.2

Now a New York Times Bestseller!

The bestselling author of The Brain That Changes Itself presents astounding advances in the treatment of brain injury and illness

In The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge described the most important breakthrough in our understanding of the brain in four hundred years: the discovery that the brain can change its own structure and function in response to menta

51

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

Steven Pinker

4.2

“In a work of outstanding clarity and sheer brilliance Steven Pinker banishes forever fears that a biological understanding of human nature threatens humane values.”
—Helena Cronin, author of The Ant and The Peacock

“A mind blowing, mind openingexpos. Pinker's profoundly positive arguments for the compatibility of biology and humanism are unrivalled for their scope and depth and should be mandatory,

Recommended by David Brooks.

David Brooks

An argument against the old view that there is no such thing as human nature, that we’re all culturally determined. He brings together a ton of evidence that that’s wrong. [source]

Cover unavailable

52

The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory, with a New Foreword by Jerome S. Bruner

Aleksandr R. Luria, Lynn Solotaroff, Jerome Bruner

4.2

The Mind of a Mnemonist is a rare phenomenon - a scientific study that transcends its data and, in the manner of the best fictional literature, fashions a portrait of an unforgettable human being."

Recommended by Joshua Foer.

Joshua Foer

This book created the entire genre of humanistic clinical histories. Without Luria, there could be no Oliver Sacks, the British neurologist who wrote Awakenings. For 30 years, Luria studied a journalist called Solomon Shereshevsky or simply ‘S’. Supposedly, S had a vacuum cleaner memory. He could remember anything. [source]

53

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Nicholas Carr

4.2

“Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?

Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling

Recommended by Andra Zaharia and Juliette Aristides.

Andra Zaharia

While I was thinking of the best books to add to this short list, I realized that not even half of them are directly related to digital marketing. This is because I believe that the best marketers are people who understand human nature deeply and aim to bring out the best in it. Call me naive, but that’s how I see it. If I were to want to pursue a career in marketing, I’d read … The Shallows. [source]

Juliette Aristides

Nicholas Carr talks at length about what is gained and lost by technological progress. Reading and writing enlarged people’s sympathetic response and enriched their lives even when the book was put aside. One could say the same thing about drawing. [source]

54

Free Will

Sam Harris

4.1

Preview Summary

Belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.

In this enlighten

Recommended by A.J. Jacobs.

A.J. Jacobs

I don’t believe in free will … Some people see that as depressing but I actually find it liberating because it’s so much easier to forgive yourself for doing stupid things. [source]

Cover unavailable

55

The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force

Jeffrey M. Schwartz MD, Sharon Begley

4.1

A groundbreaking work of science that confirms, for the first time, the independent existence of the mind–and demonstrates the possibilities for human control over the workings of the brain.

Conventional science has long held the position that 'the mind' is merely an illusion, a side effect of electrochemical activity in the physical brain. Now in paperback, Dr Jeffrey Schwartz and Sharon Begley's

56

The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind

Michio Kaku

4.1

The New York Times best-selling author of Physics of the Impossible, Physics of the Future and Hyperspace tackles the most fascinating and complex object in the known universe: the human brain.

For the first time in history, the secrets of the living brain are being revealed by a battery of high tech brain scans devised by physicists. Now what was once solely the province of science fiction has bec

Recommended by Dominic Steil.

Dominic Steil

One of the books that had the biggest impact on . [source]

57

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

Gabor Maté

4.1

Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with the severely addicted on Vancouver’s skid row, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts radically reenvisions this much misunderstood field by taking a holistic approach. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throug

Recommended by Johann Hari.

Johann Hari

If you wanted to design a system that would make addiction worse, you’d design the system we have now. [source]

58

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life (Revised and Expanded): The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Lack of Focus, Anger, and Memory Problems

Daniel G. Amen

4.1

Preview Summary

BRAIN PRESCRIPTIONS THAT REALLY WORK
In this breakthrough bestseller, you'll see scientific evidence that your anxiety, depression, anger, obsessiveness, or impulsiveness could be related to how specific structures in your brain work. You're not stuck with the brain you're born with. Here are just a few of neuropsychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen's surprising--and effective--"brain prescriptions" that can

59

Consciousness Explained

Daniel C. Dennett

4.1

In Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett reveals the secrets of one of the last remaining mysteries of the universe: the human brain.

Daniel C. Dennett's now-classic book blends philosophy, psychology and neuroscience - with the aid of numerous examples and thought-experiments - to explore how consciousness has evolved, and how a modern understanding of the human mind is radically different fr

Recommended by Keith Frankish and Susan Blackmore.

Keith Frankish

The book is packed with thought experiments, all designed to undermine the intuitive but misleading picture of the Cartesian Theatre. [source]

Susan Blackmore

People go in two directions: they either love the way he writes, or they hate it. I love it, with all his mad examples and neologisms. [source]

Cover unavailable

60

Uncle Tungsten

Oliver Sacks

4.1

In Uncle Tungsten Sacks evokes, with warmth and wit, his upbringing in wartime England. He tells of the large science-steeped family who fostered his early fascination with chemistry. There follow his years at boarding school where, though unhappy, he developed the intellectual curiosity that would shape his later life. And we hear of his return to London, an emotionally bereft ten-year-old who fo

Cover unavailable

61

Still Alice

Lisa Genova

4.1

Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University.

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness c

62

This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life

Annie Grace

4.1

Preview Summary

This Naked Mind has ignited a movement across the country, helping thousands of people forever change their relationship with alcohol.

Many people question whether drinking has become too big a part of their lives, and worry that it may even be affecting their health. But, they resist change because they fear losing the pleasure and stress-relief associated with alcohol, and assume giving it up wil

63

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Jean-Dominique Bauby

4.1

‘Locked-in syndrome: paralysed from head to toe, the patient, his mind intact, is imprisoned inside his own body, unable to speak or move. In my case, blinking my left eyelid is my only means of communication.’

In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French ‘Elle’ and the father of two young children, suffered a massive stroke and found himself paralysed and speechless, but entir

Recommended by Emma Watson.

64

Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence

Carl Sagan

4.1

Dr Carl Sagan takes us on a great reading adventure, offering his vivid and startling insights into the brains of humans & beasts, the origin of human intelligence, the function of our most haunting legends and their amazing links to recent discoveries.

65

The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race

Daniel Z. Lieberman

4.1

Preview Summary

Cover unavailable

66

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Mark Haddon

4.1

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He

Recommended by Ev Williams, Robert Muchamore, Simon Baron-Cohen, and 1 others.

Robert Muchamore

Mark Haddon wrote a spy series for eight- or nine-year-olds and then he suddenly comes out with this rather brilliant novel. Is it an adult book? Is it a kids’ book? So many people can read it and approach it. [source]

Simon Baron-Cohen

In fiction the writer has some licence to deviate from what is real – it’s a work of art, ultimately, for people’s interest and enjoyment, but I think that the character is very recognisable of many people with Asperger syndrome. I think the author has done a very good job. [source]

Vanessa Keng

I've always loved fiction - mainly crime and legal thrillers, but there's something wonderful about reading a completely different style of writing from what I'm used to. I found myself absorbed in the narrative of guilt and love in The Kite Runner, and The Curious Incident told me a story from a completely different perspective. [source]

67

Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain

Antonio Damasio

4.1

From one of the most significant neuroscientists at work today, a pathbreaking investigation of a question that has confounded philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists for centuries: how is consciousness created?

Antonio Damasio has spent the past thirty years studying and writing about how the brain operates, and his work has garnered acclaim for its singular melding of the scientific and

68

The Female Brain

Louann Brizendine M.D.

4.1

This comprehensive new look at the hormonal roller coaster that rules women's lives down to the cellular level, "a user's guide to new research about the female brain and the neurobehavioral systems that make us women," offers a trove of information, as well as some stunning insights. Though referenced like a work of research, Brizedine's writing style is fully accessible. Brizendine provides a fa

Recommended by Brian Armstrong.

Cover unavailable

69

Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference

Cordelia Fine

4.1

It’s the twenty-first century, and although we tried to rear unisex children--boys who play with dolls and girls who like trucks--we failed. Even though the glass ceiling is cracked, most women stay comfortably beneath it, and everywhere we hear about vitally important “hardwired” differences between male and female brains. The neuroscience we read about in magazines, newspaper articles, books, an

Recommended by Nicholas Epley.

Nicholas Epley

Cornelia’s book is a rigorous walk through the scientific literature that presents the facts about gender differences. She blows up a lot of the popular books which posited that ‘men are from Mars and women are from Venus’ and described the male and female brain as fundamentally different. Cordelia’s book puts the real and relatively small differences between men and women into perspective. [source]

70

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

Jon Ronson

4.1

In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them.

The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psyc

Recommended by Memo Akten.

Memo Akten

@therourke you may very well be a pyschopath!, it doesn't mean you'll be an axe wielding homicidal maniac :) (I think I might be a bit pyschopath, dunno. My AE is a bit of a yoyo. At times I might feel more for a fly in a spiderweb than a person). V interesting book: https://t.co/QRAJAZPhDY [source]

71

Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

James R. Doty MD

4.1

Growing up in the high desert of California, Jim Doty was poor, with an alcoholic father and a mother chronically depressed and paralyzed by a stroke. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor. But back then his life was at a dead end until at twelve he wandered into a m

Recommended by Robin Sharma and Roxana Bitoleanu.

Robin Sharma

I think you’ll gain great value—and reading joy—from this book. Have an excellent Saturday. Love, Robin https://t.co/8e5D4Y2LLp [source]

Roxana Bitoleanu

One of the books recommends to young people interested in her career path. [source]

72

Principles of Neural Science

Eric R. Kandel, James H. Schwartz, Thomas M. Jessell

4.1

This text studies the brain, its structure, function and development. It discusses neuroanatomy, cell and molecular mechanisms and signaling through a cognitive approach to behaviour. It features an expanded treatment of the nervous system, neurological and psychiatric diseases and perception.

Cover unavailable

73

Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

Rick Hanson

4.1

Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and other great teachers were born with brains built essentially like anyone else's. Then they used their minds to change their brains in ways that changed history.

With the new breakthroughs in neuroscience, combined with the insights from thousands of years of contemplative practice, you, too, can shape your own brain for greater happiness, love, and wisdom.

Buddha's Brai

Cover unavailable

74

The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement

David Brooks

4.1

With unequaled insight and brio, David Brooks, the New York Times columnist and bestselling author of Bobos in Paradise, has long explored and explained the way we live. Now, with the intellectual curiosity and emotional wisdom that make his columns among the most read in the nation, Brooks turns to the building blocks of human flourishing in a multilayered, profoundly illuminating work grounded i

Cover unavailable

75

The River of Consciousness

Oliver Sacks

4.1

From the bestselling author of Gratitude and Musicophilia, a collection of essays that displays Oliver Sacks's passionate engagement with the most compelling ideas of human endeavor: evolution, creativity, memory, time, consciousness, and experience.

Oliver Sacks, scientist and storyteller, is beloved by readers for the extraordinary neurological case histories (Awakenings, An Anthropologist on Mar

76

Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention

Stanislas Dehaene

4.0

Cover unavailable

77

The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths

MICHAEL SHERMER

4.0

Synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist and science historian Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. Using sensory data that flow in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and th

Cover unavailable

78

A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons

Robert M. Sapolsky

4.0

In the tradition of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, Robert Sapolsky, a foremost science writer and recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant, tells the mesmerizing story of his twenty-one years in remote Kenya with a troop of Savannah baboons.

“I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead, I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla,” writes Robert Sapolsky in this wi

Recommended by Nick Pyenson.

Nick Pyenson

Sapolsky’s book is my favourite in the modern scientist-author canon.He places you in his shoes, and shows you how his ensemble cast of baboons (generations of them, actually) have personality, agency, and succumb to the same foibles that we do. [source]

79

The Other Brain: From Dementia to Schizophrenia, How New Discoveries about the Brain Are Revolutionizing Medicine and Science

R. Douglas Fields

4.0

Despite everything that has been written about the brain, a very important part of this vital organ has been overlooked in most books -- until now. The Other Brain is the story of glia, which make up approximately 85 percent of the cells in the brain. Long neglected as little more than cerebral packing material ("glia" means glue), glia are sparking a revolution in brain science.

Glia are completel

80

Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life

Jill Bolte Taylor

4.0

Preview Summary

81

Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition: My Life with Autism

Temple Grandin

4.0

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also lectures widely on autism—because Temple Grandin is autistic, a woman who thinks, feels, and experiences the world in ways that are incomprehensible to the rest of us.

In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism.

Cover unavailable

82

Clinical Neuroanatomy Made Ridiculously Simple

Stephen Goldberg M.D

4.0

This now-classic text presents the most relevant points in clinical neuroanatomy with mnemonics, humor and case presentations. For neuroanatomy courses and Board review. Includes attached CD-ROM on Neurologic Localization with 3D animated rotations of the brain. Neuroanatomy laboratory tutorial with photographs of brain specimens. Tutorial on how to localize neurologic injuries; Interactive quiz o

Cover unavailable

83

Into the Silent Land: Travels in Neuropsychology

Paul Broks

4.0

Into the Silent Land is a collection of case studies and short tutorials on neuropsychology, which is the science of analyzing the relationship between personality, performance, and the anatomical and physiological structure of the brain. Broks fuses classic cases of neuropsychology with the his own case studies, philosophical debate, and thought provoking riffs and meditations on the nature of ne

Recommended by Suzanne O'Sullivan.

Suzanne O'Sullivan

He says something that Sacks doesn’t say. [source]

Cover unavailable

84

The Man with a Shattered World: The History of a Brain Wound

Alexander Luria

4.0

Russian psychologist A. R. Luria presents a compelling portrait of a man's heroic struggle to regain his mental faculties. A soldier named Zasetsky, wounded in the head at the battle of Smolensk in 1943, suddenly found himself in a frightening world: he could recall his childhood but not his recent past; half his field of vision had been destroyed; he had great difficulty speaking, reading, and wr

Cover unavailable

85

Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

Michael J. Fox

4.0

There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband. Father. Activist. But readers of Always Looking Up will soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an emotional, psychological, intellectual,

Recommended by Elaine Fox.

Elaine Fox

This again is a very interesting and personal book. As you mention, he developed Parkinson’s and was aware from a very early age that it was going to end his acting career. He writes in the book that there was no way he could continue his movie career with the kinds of problems that Parkinson’s brought. But one of the interesting things he makes clear is that in spite of all that he absolutely believed he would be able to deal with it, even though it meant that he might have to come up with a different career. [source]

86

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance

Atul Gawande

4.0

The struggle to perform well is universal: each one of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives are on the line with every decision. In his new book, Atul Gawande explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles

Recommended by Christina Reynolds and Elad Yom-Tov.

Christina Reynolds

Interesting book on medicine with broader applications for all of us. https://t.co/KUeHOPWMom [source]

Elad Yom-Tov

He has a way of explaining the medical world in a manner that is both compassionate but also very much data driven. [source]

Cover unavailable

87

A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers

V.S. Ramachandran

4.0

How can some people come to believe that their poodle is an impostor? Or see colors in numbers? Internationally acclaimed neuroscientist, V.S. Ramachandran, now shares his unique insight into human consciousness in an entertaining, inspiring, and intellectually dazzling brief tour of the ultimate frontier—the thoughts in our heads.A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness is made up of five investigatio

Cover unavailable

88

Idiot Brain: What Your Head Is Really Up To

Dean Burnett

4.0

The brain is an absolute marvel—the seat of our consciousness, the pinnacle (so far) of evolutionary progress, and the engine of human experience. But it’s also messy, fallible, and about 50,000 years out of date. We cling to superstitions, remember faces but not names, miss things sitting right in front of us, and lie awake at night while our brains endlessly replay our greatest fears. Idiot Brai

89

Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior

Temple Grandin, Catherine Johnson

4.0

Temple Grandin's "Animals in Translation" speaks in the clear voice of a woman who emerged from the other side of autism, bringing with her an extraordinary message about how animals think and feel.Temple's professional training as an animal scientist and her history as a person with autism have given her a perspective like that of no other expert in the field. Standing at the intersection of auti

Recommended by Simon Baron-Cohen.

Simon Baron-Cohen

I think this book is unusual for lots of reasons. I found it really gripping. First of all, it is written by someone with autism. For me, as a scientist who has been looking at autism from the outside, I felt there is so much we can learn from her because she has actually got the condition, and is able to tell us what the world looks like from her point of view. [source]

90

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

Peter Godfrey-Smith

4.0

Although mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has also sprouted higher intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. In captivity, octopuses have been known to identify individual human keepers, raid neighboring tanks for food, turn off

Recommended by Susan Blackmore.

Susan Blackmore

An enjoyable read that will make you think. [source]

Cover unavailable

91

A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain

John J. Ratey

4.0

John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, here lucidly explains the human brain’s workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a gr

92

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

Daniel Goleman

4.0

Preview Summary

Bestselling author Daniel Goleman returns with a groundbreaking look at today's scarcest resource and the secret to high performance and fulfillment: attention

For more than two decades, psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman has been scouting the leading edge of the human sciences for what's new, surprising, and important. In Focus, he delves into the science of attention in all its varieties,

Cover unavailable

93

Unthinkable: What the World's Most Extraordinary Brains Can Teach Us About Our Own

Mia K. Wright

4.0

Our brains are far stranger than we think. We take for granted that we can remember, feel emotion, navigate, empathize, and understand the world around us, but how would our lives change if these abilities were dramatically enhanced--or disappeared overnight?

Helen Thomson has spent years traveling the world, tracking down incredibly rare brain disorders. In Unthinkable she tells the stories of nin

Cover unavailable

94

How We Decide

Jonah Lehrer

4.0

The first book to use the unexpected discoveries of neuroscience to help us make the best decisions.

Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we “blink” and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the mind’s black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they’re discovering that this is not how the mind

Recommended by Vinod Khosla, Vinod Khosla, and Seth Godin.

95

Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting

Lisa Genova

4.0

Preview Summary

Cover unavailable

96

The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being

Daniel J. Siegel M.D.

4.0

From the author of the internationally-acclaimed best-selling text The Developing Mind, and esteemed leader and educator in the field of mental health, comes the first book ever to integrate neuroscience research with the ancient art of mindfulness. The result is a groundbreaking approach to not simply mental health, but life in general, which shows readers how personal awareness and attunement ca

Recommended by Tessa Watt.

Tessa Watt

This is a book that focuses on the neuroscience of mindfulness. [source]

97

Who's in Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain

Michael Gazzaniga

4.0

“Big questions are Gazzaniga’s stock in trade.”
—New York Times

“Gazzaniga is one of the most brilliant experimental neuroscientists in the world.”
—Tom Wolfe

“Gazzaniga stands as a giant among neuroscientists, for both the quality of his research and his ability to communicate it to a general public with infectious enthusiasm.”
—Robert Bazell, Chief Science Correspondent, NBC News

The author of Human,

98

Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain

Lisa Feldman Barrett

4.0

Preview Summary

Cover unavailable

99

The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

Steven Pinker

4.0

In The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, Steven Pinker looks at how the relationship between words and thoughts can help us understand who we are.

Why do so many swear words involve topics like sex, bodily functions or the divine? Why do some children's names thrive while others fall out of favour? Why do we threaten and bribe and seduce in such elaborate, often comical ways

Recommended by Dominic Steil, Henry Hitchings, and Melissa Mohr.

Dominic Steil

One of the books that had the biggest impact on . [source]

Melissa Mohr

This is about language more generally, but it has a great chapter on swearing. It’s a really good shorter summary, where he hits all the highlights about swearing and physiology in terms of how it works in the brain and the effects it has on your body. [source]

100

Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long

David Rock

4.0

Meet Emily and Paul: The parents of two young children, Emily is the newly promoted VP of marketing at a large corporation while Paul works from home or from clients' offices as an independent IT consultant. Their lives, like all of ours, are filled with a bewildering blizzard of emails, phone calls, yet more emails, meetings, projects, proposals, and plans. Just staying ahead of the storm has bec

Recommended by Noah Kagan, Jason Stirman, and Kyrylo Taranenko.

Noah Kagan

Founder/Sumo

A few months ago, I was drinking a Noah’s Mill whiskey (cute) with my good buddy Brian Balfour and talking about life... During the conversation, we got on the topic of books that changed our lives. I want to share them with you. I judge a book's success if a year later I'm still using at least 1 thing from the book. [source]

Jason Stirman

Understand how our brains operate at work throughout the day was really illuminating for me, especially because I manage other humans who have brains. [source]

Kyrylo Taranenko

The golden rule that always works for me: “If something takes two minutes or less, just do it”. I also work remotely, so reading “Your Brain at Work” by D. Rock taught me… well, how our brain works at work (sorry if this sentence sounds like a Rihanna`s song). With this knowledge, I manage my priorities better. [source]