'Everything about [this] book, which combines a healthy dose of lucid neuroscience with a dash of sensitive personal narrative, delights ... a beautifully balanced piece of popular-science writing' Boyd Tonkin, Independent 'For people interested in language, this is a must. You'll find yourself focusing on words in new ways. Read it slowly - it will take time to sink in.'William Leith, Sunday Telegraph 'An inspiring celebration of the science of reading.' P.D. Smith, Guardian 'We were never born to read', says Maryanne Wolf ...
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'Everything about [this] book, which combines a healthy dose of lucid neuroscience with a dash of sensitive personal narrative, delights ... a beautifully balanced piece of popular-science writing' Boyd Tonkin, Independent 'For people interested in language, this is a must. You'll find yourself focusing on words in new ways. Read it slowly - it will take time to sink in.'William Leith, Sunday Telegraph 'An inspiring celebration of the science of reading.' P.D. Smith, Guardian 'We were never born to read', says Maryanne Wolf. 'No specific genes ever dictated reading's development. Human beings invented reading only a few thousand years ago. And with this invention, we changed the very organisation of our brain, which in turn expanded the ways we were able to think, which altered the intellectual evolution of our species.' In "Proust and the Squid", Maryanne Wolf explores our brains' near-miraculous ability to arrange and re-arrange themselves in response to external circumstances. She examines how this 'open architecture', the elasticity of our brains, helps and hinders humans in their attempts to learn to read, and to process the written language. She also investigates what happens to people whose brains make it difficult to acquire these skills, such as those with dyslexia. Wolf, a world expert on the reading brain, brings both a personal passion and deft style to this, the story of the reading brain. It is a pop science masterpiece on a subject that anyone who loves reading will be sure to find fascinating.
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Add this copy of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the to cart. $20.85, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2008 by Harper Perennial.
Excellent discussion on the theory of neuroplasticity and its evolutionary consequences.
Jimborooney
Oct 28, 2010
Reading & the Brain
Highly recommended for all interested in Language and the Neurological history of the effects of Learning to Read on the human brain. Attention to Dyslexia, the differences in brain development between "normal" brains, and the brains of dyslexics--with attention to the STRENGTHS of dyslexic brains.
Should be on the reading list of all who teach reading, or are in any way concerned with the neurology of reading and its effects on the brain, and the person it belongs to!
