R. L. Gregory (1923–2010)

This is a large book, a bit like an encyclopedia, but all 800 plus pages are about the Mind, covering neuroscience, philosophy of the mind, artificial intelligence, and psychology. The topics are alphabetically arranged, and each written by an expert in the field. It is probably meant to be a reference book, but I read it right the way through over quite a long period of time. It isn't written to be overly technical, as any given reader is unlikely be a specialist in psychology, philosophy, neuroanatomy, neuroscience, and computer science, but it is written at a level suitable for an educated general reader.
My copy is quite an old one, 1989, and some of the neuroscience is a bit out of date (not wrong generally), but there are things that have been discovered since, as it is a modern and steadily progressing field. The philosophy of mind and psychology are less quickly advancing fields, and so the book is a very good source of information for these. Even though neuroscience is quickly advancing, it is doing so in a reductionist manner, with us knowing more and more about less and less, and though this is useful for some things such as developing drugs and treating diseases, it doesn't help us understand the workings of the brain as a whole much better, so this book is still a valuable source of information about neuroscience too.
If you have any interest in the mind then this book will be worth picking up. Reading it right through is quite an undertaking, but you will know a lot more at the end of it, than before starting, but it can just as easily be dipped into as each topic has a separate article.
The human mind is arguably the most complex thing in the known universe, and even after reading this huge book, I do not think I know enough about it, and want to read more books on the mind and consciousness.… (mais)