Staff Pick of the Week

Patron Pick

This week's selection, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman, was recommended to the Circulation Desk by one of our regular patrons.

If the conscious mind--the part you consider to be you--is just the tip of the iceberg, what is the rest doing?

In this sparkling and provocative new book, the renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate surprising mysteries. Why can your foot move halfway to the brake pedal before you become consciously aware of danger ahead? Why do you hear your name being mentioned in a conversation that you didn't think you were listening to? What do Ulysses and the credit crunch have in common? Why did Thomas Edison electrocute an elephant in 1916? Why are people whose names begin with J more likely to marry other people whose names begin with J? Why is it so difficult to keep a secret? And how is it possible to get angry at yourself--who, exactly, is mad at whom?

Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusion, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and its contradictions.

(Cover copy)

This title, and others like it, can be found in the West Virginia Library Commission Reference Library.