In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind

Eric R. Kandel

Mar 2007 · W. W. Norton & Company

About this ebook

“A stunning book.”—Oliver Sacks Memory binds our mental life together. We are who we are in large part because of what we learn and remember. But how does the brain create memories? Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel intertwines the intellectual history of the powerful new science of the mind—a combination of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology—with his own personal quest to understand memory. A deft mixture of memoir and history, modern biology and behavior, In Search of Memory brings readers from Kandel's childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna to the forefront of one of the great scientific endeavors of the twentieth century: the search for the biological basis of memory.

Ratings and reviews

I found this book educational as well as a good read. He really tries to explain things in layman's terms and at the same time puts personal experiences of his own life in as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in how the brain works.

I use to wonder what happened to Jungian and Freudian psychology and this book explains it. I sort of knew a lot of what this book might contain but to find it crystalised much further than I expected was a sheer delight.

This should be required reading for any serious student of neuroscience. Eric Kandel does a fantastic job detailing the history of neuroscience, and the scientists who made the largest contributions to the field. What made this book all the more enjoyable was Eric shares his episodic memories of both the discoveries of his contemporaries as well as his own.

About the author

Eric R. Kandel is Kavli Professor and University Professor at Columbia University and senior investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000. He lives in New York City.