This book is a compilation of twenty-four essays divided into four sections: 'Losses', 'Excesses', 'Transports', and 'The World of the Simple'. It delves into various neurological conditions, including visual agnosia, as seen in the titular case of a man who mistakes his wife's head for a hat. The book provides a profound understanding of the human mind and its complexities, highlighting the resilience and adaptability of individuals with neurological disorders. Sacks narrates complex medical phenomena in an accessible manner, exploring aspects of brain function, memory, perception, and the intricate relationship between the physical and mental selves.
This book, originally published in 1952 as 'In the Name of Science: An Entertaining Survey of the High Priests and Cultists of Science, Past and Present,' is a survey of what Martin Gardner describes as pseudosciences and cult beliefs. It became a founding document in the scientific skepticism movement. Gardner debunks various fads and fallacies, discussing topics such as hollow-earth theories, Velikovsky's wandering planets, Wilhelm Reich's orgone energy, and L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics. He identifies common characteristics of pseudoscientists, including isolation from the scientific community and paranoid tendencies. The book provides a fair and reasoned appraisal of eccentric theories, highlighting their scientific, philosophic, and sociological-psychological implications.
In this book, Dr. Eben Alexander describes his near-death experience (NDE) while suffering from a rare case of bacterial meningitis. During his seven-day coma, Alexander claims to have journeyed beyond this world, encountering an angelic being and the Divine source of the universe. His experience transformed his views on life, philosophy, medicine, and the existence of God and the soul. The book details his medical recovery as a miracle and explores the implications of his NDE on his understanding of consciousness and the afterlife. Despite scientific criticism, Alexander's story has been widely read and discussed, offering a unique perspective on the intersection of science and spirituality.
In 'Mortality', Christopher Hitchens reflects on his terminal illness and the process of dying. The book is a collection of essays written during his battle with esophageal cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2010. Hitchens confronts death with his characteristic clarity and wit, discussing the physical and emotional torments of illness, the taboos surrounding death, and how disease transforms one's relationship with the world. He maintains his atheist stance even in the face of death, rejecting any notion of seeking solace in religion. The book also includes an afterword by his wife, which provides additional insight into his final days. Hitchens' writing is marked by his usual incisiveness and humor, making the book both harrowing and life-affirming[2][4][5].
This book is a collection of lectures delivered by William James at the University of Edinburgh between 1901 and 1902. It focuses on the personal and subjective aspects of religious experiences, rather than on theology or organized religion. James examines various types of religious experiences, including healthy-mindedness, the sick soul, conversion, mysticism, and saintliness. He emphasizes the importance of feeling and personal experience in religion, arguing that these experiences are the primary source of religious beliefs and practices. The book also discusses the psychological and philosophical implications of these experiences, highlighting their complexity and life-altering nature[2][3][4].
A debate on the mind, soul, consciousness, and the afterlife.
Michael Egnor, MD, is Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. He received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and trained in neurosurgery at the University of Miami. He has been on faculty at Stony Brook since 1991. He is the neurosurgery residency director and has served as the director of pediatric neurosurgery and as vice-chairman of neurosurgery at Stony Brook Medicine. He has a strong interest in Thomistic philosophy, philosophy of mind, neuroscience, evolution and intelligent design, and bioethics and has published and lectured extensively on these topics. His new book is The Immortal Mind: A Neurosurgeon’s Case for the Existence of the Soul.
Christof Koch is a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute and at the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, the former president of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and a former professor at the California Institute of Technology. Author of four previous titles—The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can’t Be Computed, Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist, and The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach—Koch writes regularly for a range of media, including Scientific American. His latest book is Then I Am Myself the World.
The Michael Shermer Show 
