Essays discuss the human brain, memory, learning, computer models of education, artificial intelligence, and religious and scientific views of human nature

How We Know: Nobel Conference XX

Computers & Technology

Edelman, Gerald M.

Nobel Conference 1984 (Gustavus Adolphus College)

Computer Science

Harpercollins

This work presents a radical new view of the function of the brain and nervous system. It suggests that the nervous system in each individual operates as a selective system resembling natural selection in evolution but operating different mechanisms. By providing a fundamental neural basis for categorization of the things of the world it unifies perception, action and learning. This theory revises our view of memory, considering it as a dynamic process of recategorization which has implications for the various psychological states from attention to dreaming. It will stimulate discussion about the mind-body problem, the origins of knowledge and the perceptual bases of language. The author won the 1972 Nobel Prize for Physiology of Medicine.

Neural Darwinism: The Theory of Neuronal Group Selection (Oxford Paperbacks)

Oxford University Press

Burgeoning advancements in brain science are opening up new perspectives on how we acquire knowledge. Indeed, it is now possible to explore consciousnessthe very center of human concernby scientific means. In this illuminating book, Dr. Gerald M. Edelman offers a new theory of knowledge based on striking scientific findings about how the brain works. And he addresses the related compelling question: Does the latest research imply that all knowledge can be reduced to scientific description? Edelman’s brain-based approach to knowledge has rich implications for our understanding of creativity, of the normal and abnormal functioning of the brain, and of the connections among the different ways we have of knowing. While the gulf between science and the humanities and their respective views of the world has seemed enormous in the past, the author shows that their differences can be dissolved by considering their origins in brain functions. He foresees a day when brain-based devices will be conscious, and he reflects on this and other fascinating ideas about how we come to know the world and ourselves.

Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge

Science & Math

History & Philosophy

Yale University Press

A renowned neuroscientist explains how our brains and bodies give rise to knowledge, creativity, and mental experience Burgeoning advancements in brain science are opening up new perspectives on how we acquire knowledge. Indeed, it is now possible to explore consciousness—the very center of human concern—by scientific means. In this illuminating book, Dr. Gerald M. Edelman offers a new theory of knowledge based on striking scientific findings about how the brain works. And he addresses the related compelling question: Does the latest research imply that all knowledge can be reduced to scientific description? Edelman’s brain-based approach to knowledge has rich implications for our understanding of creativity, of the normal and abnormal functioning of the brain, and of the connections among the different ways we have of knowing. While the gulf between science and the humanities and their respective views of the world has seemed enormous in the past, the author shows that their differences can be dissolved by considering their origins in brain functions. He foresees a day when brain-based devices will be conscious, and he reflects on this and other fascinating ideas about how we come to know the world and ourselves.

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

During the past decade there has been a phenomenal growth in the basic research of semiconductor nanoclusters and other nanomaterials. As the field has evolved the emphasis has shifted from basic theoretical description to field utilization of nanostructure-based devices. The topics of the various chapters presented in this book, written by leaders in the field, highlight the salient features of nanocrystalline semiconductor materials.Features of this book:- Provides synthetic strategies to generate ultrasmall particles, films and wires- Describes the characterization methodologies of a large number of nanomaterials from the molecular level to the long-range crystallographic ordering- Develops theoretical descriptions of present-day quantum confinement effects in various materials, including metallic particles, III-V semiconductors, and porous silicon- Explores the fate of photoinduced charge carriers in these materials and the phenomena of charge transfer across interfaces- Covers the utilization of these newly discovered effects in analytical chemistry, organic synthesis, environmental remediation, and electrochemistry.The aim of the book is to present the necessary background material for advanced undergraduate students in the field of physical chemistry and materials science and provide a reference book for the experts in this area.

We are on the verge of a revolution in neuroscience as significant as the Galilean revolution in physics or the Darwinian revolution in biology. Nobel laureate Gerald M. Edelman takes issue with the many current cognitive and behavioral approaches to the brain that leave biology out of the picture, and argues that the workings of the brain more closely resemble the living ecology of a jungle than they do the activities of a computer. Some startling conclusions emerge from these ideas: individuality is necessarily at the very center of what it means to have a mind, no creature is born value-free, and no physical theory of the universe can claim to be a ”theory of everything” without including an account of how the brain gives rise to the mind. There is no greater scientific challenge than understanding the brain. Bright Air, Brilliant Fire is a book that provides a window on that understanding.

Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On The Matter Of The Mind

Basic Books

A Universe Of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination

In A Universe of Consciousness, Gerald Edelman builds on the radical ideas he introduced in his monumental trilogy-Neural Darwinism, Topobiology, and The Remembered Present-to present for the first time an empirically supported full-scale theory of consciousness. He and the neurobiolgist Giulio Tononi show how they use ingenious technology to detect the most minute brain currents and to identify the specific brain waves that correlate with particular conscious experiences. The results of this pioneering work challenge the conventional wisdom about consciousness.

Politics & Social Sciences

Tononi, Giulio

Philosophy

A genuine understanding of how mental states arise from the structure and function of the brain would be, as William James declared in 1892, ”the scientific achievement before which all past achievements would pale.” Can a comprehensive biological theory of consciousness be constructed in 1990? Any attempt has to reconcile evidence garnered from such diverse fields as developmental and evolutionary biology, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, psychiatry, and philosophy.Having laid the groundwork in his critically acclaimed books Neural Darwinism (Basic Books, 1987) and Topobiology (Basic Books, 1988), Nobel laureate Gerald M. Edelman now proposes a comprehensive theory of consciousness in The Remembered Present. Integrating findings generated by the recent explosive growth in the neurosciences with current knowledge of anatomy, cell biology, and psychology, Edelman has been able to construct a detailed model of how we become aware of our own existence.In addition to providing a scientific account of brain function and consciousness, the theory advanced in The Remembered Present will have a significant impact on a wide variety of fields. It provides a new outlook that may prompt fundamental revisions in the way linguists view language, physicians classify mental diseases, and philosophers look at the mind-body problem.

The Remembered Present: A Biological Theory of Consciousness

Self-Help

If you had a complete copy of a dinosaur's DNA and the genetic code, you still would not be able to make a dinosaur—or even determine what one looked like. Why? How do animals get their shape and how does shape evolve? In this important book, Nobel laureate Gerald M. Edelman challenges the notion that an understanding of the genetic code and of cell differentiation is sufficient to answer these questions. Rather, he argues, a trio of related issues must also be investigated—the development of form, the evolution of form, and the morphological and functional bases of behavior. Topobiology presents an introduction to molecular embryology and describes a comprehensive hypothesis to account for the evolution and development of animal form.

Topobiology: An Introduction to Molecular Embroyology

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Edelman, Gerald M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Edelman, Gerald M.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Edelman, Gerald M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

How We Know: Nobel Conference XX

Neural Darwinism: The Theory of Neuronal Group Selection (Oxford Paperbacks)

Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge

Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge

Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge

Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On The Matter Of The Mind

A Universe Of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination

Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On The Matter Of The Mind

The Remembered Present: A Biological Theory of Consciousness

Topobiology: An Introduction to Molecular Embroyology