Your Brain: The Missing Manual

Posted by tripwire45 on Jun 6, 2008 9:32 AM EDT
CertForums.co.uk; By James Pyles
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This isn't the sort of book I usually review. I don't know if you can say it has much to do with the computing industry, but it is on a topic that we all have in common (hopefully). I don't always consider myself the brightest bulb in the ceiling, so when I saw this book was available and read the subtitle, "How to get the most from your mind", I couldn't resist and asked for a review copy. Here's how it goes. One of the first things I do when I get a book for review, is to take a look at the back cover. The material there usually offers a nice summary of the content contained therein. I didn't find this back cover blurb to be particularly helpful. It seemed too "general", saying in part, "One part science guide, one part self-help concierge...grounded in...neuroscience, psychology, and nutritional wisdom..." I have a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's in Counseling, so I have something of the necessary background to review the material, but a neuroscientist, I'm not. What's the average reader going to make of it?

Where it really got mysterious was when I read the author's bio. He's a programmer. Imagine that. Now imagine that he doesn't program human brains, but instead, is the author of books involving Excel 2007, Access 2007 and creating web sites. Where does a "Missing Manual" on the brain fit in? The three technical reviewers for the book each have varying degrees of experience in neuroscience, so that helps. Maybe the secret is in its practical approach. At least according to the front matter, the focus of this text is not just on how the brain works but "...on how you can use it more effectively". Perhaps MacDonald is going to share the techniques he's learned to keep his mind ("mind"..."brain"...can you really use these terms interchangeably?) sharp. Let's see.

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