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Show Books Received Finding Einstein's Brain Frederick E. Lepore. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutger's University Press; 2018. ISBN: 978-0813580395, $19.00. thereto. The book is very extensively referenced, chapter by chapter, inviting the interested reader to delve deeper into the background on this subject. Einstein's Brain literally is a "page turner" which, for a book based on scientific material, is fairly unique. WEAKNESSES SCOPE This book is a tour de force description of the almost adventurous effort to find the remains of Einstein's brain, originally recovered at autopsy after his death from a ruptured aortic aneurysm in 1955. It then describes the histologic evaluations that had been performed early after his death by the pathologist who performed Einstein's autopsy, Dr. Thomas Harvey, and the status of the remaining brain tissue found in a pathology laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey, by Dr. Lepore in 1999. What follows is an account of the brain tissues' travels away from Princeton for neuroanatomical analysis and those results. After a hiatus in evaluation of nearly 25 years, the brain tissues' "rediscovery" is described, including its eventual lodging in a cider box in Dr. Harvey's office in Wichita, Kansas. What follows is an extensive iteration of the efforts made by Dr. Lepore and his colleagues to unlock the mystery of the differences in the brain of a genius relative to those of us lesser mortals. Included in this is a scientific/philosophical analysis of the question of whether "the mind" can ever be fully described based on anatomical structure or localized neurophysiology. Finally, Dr. Lepore covers what additional investigations of the remaining brain tissue might be applied in the future based on advances in neuroanatomical techniques. STRENGTHS The literary style in this book is quite scholarly, but also conversational. A thorough timeline of the travels and experimental analyses of Einstein's brain is imparted with considerable detail. Dr. Lepore's contributions to these elucidations are clearly evident. The chapters on "How Does a Genius Think?" and "The Pursuit of Genius" are particularly interesting relative the question of mind-brain dichotomy and application of research and philosophy Hogan: J Neuro-Ophthalmol 2019; 39: e9 Perhaps, the only weakness encountered was the frequent use of erudite vocabulary that many readers will have to look up. Several of these words/phrases were from nonEnglish languages, and many were not contained in my phone's dictionary app (although they were found in a 2500 page edition by Merriam-Webster). Although a stumbling block to smooth reading of the text, these words/phrases also serve to educate the reader if they bother to investigate their meaning. RECOMMENDED AUDIENCE Although a general reader might be captivated by the journey of Einstein's brain over the 601 years since his death, the detailed description of the numerous investigations into the tissue, the investigative techniques, and the findings would appeal more to neuroscientists, neurologists, neuropathologists, neurocognitionists, and perhaps, those readers interested in structural-behavioral philosophy, as well as those interested in Einstein's life in general. CRITICAL APPRAISAL Einstein's Brain is written in a conversational style. It is packed with detailed descriptions of the brain's scientific evaluation and a complete rendition of the brain's journey through time and space. Thus, it could be considered a postmortem extension of Einstein's Theories of Relativity. It is an excellent book, inexpensive, and well-documented and illustrated. To my mind, it is a "must read." R. Nick Hogan, MD, PhD Departments of Ophthalmology, Pathology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas nick.hogan@utsouthwestern.edu The author reports no conflicts of interest. e9 Copyright © North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. |
