Ian Glynn

well-written and absorbing

A retelling of familiar stories from physics and biology (nerve operation, brain regions and pathways, genetic code), supposedly stressing the role of elegance in the theorizing and experimentation. The physics is pre-1900s stuff -- mechanics (basic and celestial), heat, electricity, light. Not very exciting material for readers in the twenty hundreds.

Dr. Glynn is a neurophysiologist who has written a general introduction to cognitive science. He has an interesting approach, building from evolution to considering the complex visual mechanisms, changing to language mechanisms, and then to consider consciousness. I found that I was familiar with many of the concepts already, but the book formed a pleasing and concise argument