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Jonah Lehrer Proust was a Neuroscientist
Book Review
Issue date: 12/6/07
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Houghton Mifflin
Nov. 1, 2007
Science and art have long been at each other's throats. Scientists declare that all life can be reduced to its fundamentals and, in so doing, be understood.
Artists, on the other hand, are adamant that the only way to approach an understanding of life is to analyze it creatively through the lens of an artistic medium rather than a microscope.
In his first book, Proust was a Neuroscientist, Jonah Lehrer argues compellingly for an ultimate truce between the two sides of this debate. His method is simple: With the subject of neuroscience as a battleground, he one-ups science over and over by using a variety of artists and their own innovative discoveries about the mind.
Lehrer claims that science shouldn't be too quick to judge art and its merits, when, in the case of neuroscience, artists have intuited certain truths about the brain and its workings that scientists only discovered years afterward.
Lehrer is well-qualified to make this argument. A double-major in neuroscience and English from Columbia University and a Rhodes Scholar, Lehrer embodies the intersection of art and science. He also has extensive experience on both sides of the fence.
He has worked in the lab of neuroscientist and Nobel laureate Eric Kandel, has studied with British literary critic Hermione Lee at Oxford and has worked as a cook in Le Bernardin, a famous French restaurant in New York.
Proust was a Neuroscientist is the culmination of Lehrer's experiences. His multiplicity of interests and talents make his voice singular and authoritative.
First and foremost, Proust was a Neuroscientist is very accessible. Weighing in at fewer than 200 pages, the book is clearly written with the curious but amateur reader in mind.
He draws upon an impressive bibliography of literature and scientific papers, collecting the most important details and translating them for the lay reader.
Lehrer's book is part biography and part philosophy. He provides fascinating anecdotes that look into the lives of famous artists and their unique artistic journeys while chronicling some of the latest achievements and news-makers in the field of neuroscience.
Nov. 1, 2007
Science and art have long been at each other's throats. Scientists declare that all life can be reduced to its fundamentals and, in so doing, be understood.
Artists, on the other hand, are adamant that the only way to approach an understanding of life is to analyze it creatively through the lens of an artistic medium rather than a microscope.
In his first book, Proust was a Neuroscientist, Jonah Lehrer argues compellingly for an ultimate truce between the two sides of this debate. His method is simple: With the subject of neuroscience as a battleground, he one-ups science over and over by using a variety of artists and their own innovative discoveries about the mind.
Lehrer claims that science shouldn't be too quick to judge art and its merits, when, in the case of neuroscience, artists have intuited certain truths about the brain and its workings that scientists only discovered years afterward.
Lehrer is well-qualified to make this argument. A double-major in neuroscience and English from Columbia University and a Rhodes Scholar, Lehrer embodies the intersection of art and science. He also has extensive experience on both sides of the fence.
He has worked in the lab of neuroscientist and Nobel laureate Eric Kandel, has studied with British literary critic Hermione Lee at Oxford and has worked as a cook in Le Bernardin, a famous French restaurant in New York.
Proust was a Neuroscientist is the culmination of Lehrer's experiences. His multiplicity of interests and talents make his voice singular and authoritative.
First and foremost, Proust was a Neuroscientist is very accessible. Weighing in at fewer than 200 pages, the book is clearly written with the curious but amateur reader in mind.
He draws upon an impressive bibliography of literature and scientific papers, collecting the most important details and translating them for the lay reader.
Lehrer's book is part biography and part philosophy. He provides fascinating anecdotes that look into the lives of famous artists and their unique artistic journeys while chronicling some of the latest achievements and news-makers in the field of neuroscience.
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