Waubonsee Community College

The astonishing hypothesis, the scientific search for the soul, Francis Crick

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-300) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The astonishing hypothesis

bibliography

29182341

Francis Crick

the scientific search for the soul

Forty years ago, Francis Crick, along with James Watson, made history with the discovery of the structure of DNA, forever changing our understanding of life itself. Now Crick is once again at the frontier of scientific discovery, turning his attention to the mysteries of human consciousness. Bent on deciphering the complexities of the brain, Crick maps out the neurobiology of vision. The result is a cogent, witty, and richly detailed analysis of how the brain "sees," and a daring exploration of some of the most fundamental questions of human existence: Do we have free will? What exactly is it that makes us sentient beings and different from other animals? Is there such a thing as a soul, or are we nothing more than an immensely complex collection of neurons? In this groundbreaking, provocative work, Francis Crick challenges the very foundations of current scientific, philosophical, and religious thought

Introduction -- General nature of consciousness -- Seeing -- Psychology of vision -- Attention and memory -- Perceptual moment: theories of vision -- Human brain in outline -- Neuron -- Types of experiment -- Primate visual system -initial stages -- Visual cortex of primates -- Brain damage -- Neural networks -- Visual awareness -- Some experiments -- Mainly speculation -- Oscillations and processing units -- Dr. Crick's Sunday morning service