Livewired The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain

“Vivid. . . . Livewired reads wonderfully, like what a book would be if it were written by Oliver Sacks and William Gibson, sitting on Carl Sagan’s front lawn.” —The Wall Street Journal

What does drug withdrawal have in common with a broken heart? Why is the enemy of memory not time but other memories? How can a blind person learn to see with her tongue, or a deaf person learn to hear with his skin? Might we someday control a robot with our thoughts, just as we do our fingers and toes? Why do we dream at night, and what does that have to do with the rotation of the earth? The answers to these questions are right behind our eyes. The greatest technology we have ever discovered on our planet is the three-pound organ carried in the vault of the skull. The magic of the brain is not found in the parts it’s made of but in the way those parts unceasingly reweave themselves in an electric, living fabric. In Livewired, you will surf the leading edge of neuroscience atop the anecdotes and metaphors that have made David Eagleman one of the best scientific translators of our generation. Covering decades of research to the present day, Livewired also presents new discoveries from Eagleman’s own laboratory, from synesthesia to dreaming to wearable neurotech devices that revolutionize how we think about the senses.

DAVID EAGLEMAN is a neuroscientist at Stanford University who specializes in brain plasticity, time perception, synesthesia, and the intersection of science with social policy. He is the CEO of the neurotechnology company Neosensory, and is founding director of the Center for Science and Law. Eagleman has authored over 125 scientific publications and holds several patents. He has written eight books, including the international bestsellers Incognito and Sum. He is the writer and presenter of the PBS/BBC television series The Brain.