Written by an international team of scientists and historians, this book offers a sweeping view of the history of neuroscience, from the philosophy of Aristotle to the field of artificial intelligence. Contributors discuss Descartes' contributions to thought about the brain, alongside studies of the central nervous system that he and artists like da Vinci executed. They show how phrenology - the long discredited study of the relation between skull shape and mental faculties - actually represented a breakthrough in thinking about localized brain functions. The essays follow the history up to the present day, describing the emergence of the modern neurosciences in such fields as artificial intelligence.
