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Neuropolis: A Brain Science Survival Guide
- Narrated by: Robert Newman
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
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Neuropolis: A Brain Science Survival Guide
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Summary
Based on Rob Newman's live stand-up show and new BBC Radio 4 comedy series, his thought-provoking and wryly amusing new book explores the scientific breakthroughs that have turned received ideas of brain science upside down.
After volunteering for a brain-imaging experiment meant to locate the part of the brain that lights up when you're in love, comedian Rob Newman emerged with more questions than answers. Can brain scans read our minds? Are we our brains? How can you map the mind?
He argues that the dehumanising claims of most current neuroscientific findings derive not from science but from a combination of philosophical blunders and a version of evolutionary biology that owes little to Darwin. He questions why brain science books are devoted to such a peculiarly pessimistic worldview when really exciting advances in neuroscience go untold, such as awe-inspiring discoveries about the origins of memory in ancient oceans.
Newman offers up fascinating examples showing that our brains are inextricably and profoundly intertwined with our bodies, the natural world and the world we have made, including hilarious accounts of his own participation in neurological experiments. Debunking common, even brainless interpretations of brain science, he celebrates the more intriguing and underreported advances in neuroscience in his signature nonconformist, charming and witty voice.
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Critic reviews
"Dissing bad science, capitalists and Brian Cox, Newman's low-octane cabinet of neuroscientific curiosities has nonconformist bite." ( The Guardian)
"A fascinating and highly original book, the sort you pick up idly and then discover that two hours have gone by." ( The Spectator)
"Newman combines proper scientific argument with dazzling shafts of wit." ( The Times)
"Scalpel-sharp analysis...very funny." ( The Psychologist)
"Hilarious...delightfully eccentric...skilfully done." ( Nature)
"He is one amazing comedian." ( Time Out)
What listeners say about Neuropolis: A Brain Science Survival Guide
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JPks
- 05-07-17
better to read than listen to
Unfortunately, Newman's voice sends me to sleep. The content is very entertaining but I ended up returning this and buying the paperback.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- woodwild
- 25-04-21
fascinating
funny fascinating and furiously funny. It's common sense thinking, uncommonly sensible thinking, so common it's downright rare.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ross T
- 26-06-24
Newman at his best
Clever and sometimes counterintuitive, but always funny. A lot less stuffy than a lot of similar titles, and personally I think it's a refreshing dig at some of the self important works on the subject.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Gary S.
- 26-11-18
helps if you get his humour
I can imagine people coming to this being bewildered, it's funny but Newman funny. Not rolling about the floor funny but very dry, sometimes fanciful.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Adrian
- 29-08-17
"I reckon, yeah?"
Newman demonstrates a (deliberate?) misunderstanding of evolutionary biology, neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, logic, software engineering and science itself as he cherry picks supporting evidence and applies argument ad absurd, confirmation bias and false dichotomy to, in his mind, debunk Swaab, Eagleman, Dawkins, Hawking, Pavlov and more. He doesn't offer anything more substantial than a metaphorical "I reckon it's like this". Most of his arguments appear to be ground in unrecognised ignorance, the rest in dogma.
This would be easier to stomach if he was funny. His TV and stand up performances have been brilliantly clever and frequently hilarious. This book is neither.
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2 people found this helpful