''Brain Renaissance'' is a book written by Marco Catani and

Stefano Sandrone Stefano Sandrone (1988) is an Italian neuroscientist and a Senior Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London. Life and works Stefano Sandrone was born in Canelli, Italy, on the 1st of February 1988, and obtained a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at King� ...

. It was published on the 500th anniversary of the birth and the 450th anniversary of the death of the anatomist

Andreas Vesalius Andreas Vesalius (Latinized from Andries van Wezel) () was a 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, ''De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (''On the fabric of the human body'' ' ...

. In 2016 ''Brain Renaissance'' won the biennial Award for Outstanding Book in the History of the Neurosciences presented by the International Society for the History of the Neurosciences.

Synopsis

The 304-page book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the biography of

, one of the greatest anatomists of all time. The second parts provides a modern

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

from Latin of Vesalius' original book on the brain, namely the seventh book of ''

De Humani Corporis Fabrica ''De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (Latin, lit. "On the fabric of the human body in seven books") is a set of books on human anatomy written by Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) and published in 1543. It was a major advance in the history ...

''. The third part tells a 500-year story behind some of the most important discoveries in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

, while relating the findings of Vesalius with the subsequent development of neuroscience. In these pages the reader becomes familiar with the ebb and flow of many ideas that had a significant impact in the

history of neuroscience From the ancient Egyptian mummifications to 18th-century scientific research on "globules" and neurons, there is evidence of neuroscience practice throughout the early periods of history. The early civilizations lacked adequate means to obtain kno ...

. At the end of the book the authors have added an appendix with the figures and captions from the seventh book of the ''Fabrica''.

Reception

Alison Abbott dedicated a one-page review to ''Brain Renaissance'' in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

''. She underlined that through the translation from the Latin 'we can appreciate Vesalius's extraordinary attention to detail, and his willingness to believe his eyes, even when what he saw contradicted established knowledge' and that the 'accompanying texts by Catani and Sandrone place the work in its historical and scientific context'. Paolo Mazzarello, who reviewed ''Brain Renaissance'' in the journal ''Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences'', wrote that the book is 'a tool to explore the neuroscience from a historical point of view' as well as 'a convincing attempt to use the fundamental discoveries of Andreas Vesalius as a key to start and develop multiple explorations of the brain'. Angela P. Pacheco, while reviewing ''Brain Renaissance'' for the British Society for Literature and Science, emphasised that 'Catani and Sandrone have produced a remarkable compilation of the history of neuroscience from Vesalius to the present day' and that this book 'is relevant both to students of medicine, and to those interested in Renaissance studies, medicine, and history.' In

PsycCRITIQUES ''PsycCRITIQUES'' was a database of reviews of books, videos, and popular films published by the American Psychological Association. It replaced the print journal ''Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books'', which was published from 1956 to 20 ...

, Gordon M. Burghardt noted that 'Brain Renaissance is even more valuable for those teaching neuroscience in all its guises and at whatever levels, in universities and medical schools. There are lots of lecture tidbits at the very least, helping put our modern conceits as part of a long journey to understand mind and behavior.'

Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brain Renaissance History of neuroscience History of medicine Neuroscience books Oxford University Press books 2015 non-fiction books