Splendors and Miseries of the Brain examines the elegant and efficient machinery of the brain, showing that by studying music, art, literature, and love, we can reach important conclusions about how the brain functions.

• discusses creativity and the search for perfection in the brain
• examines the power of the unfinished and why it has such a powerful hold on the imagination
• discusses Platonic concepts in light of the brain
• shows that aesthetic theories are best understood in terms of the brain
• discusses the inherited concept of unity-in-love using evidence derived from the world literature of love
• addresses the role of the synthetic concept in the brain (the synthesis of many experiences) in relation to art, using examples taken from the work of Michelangelo, Cezanne, Balzac, Dante, and others

About the Author
Semir Zeki is a visual neurobiologist in the Department of Cognitive Neurology at University College London. Zeki has pioneered the study of the primate visual brain and furthered research on how affective states are generated by visual inputs. He has published extensively in his field, including the books Inner Vision: an exploration of art and the brain (1999) and A Vision of the Brain (Blackwell Scientific, Oxford), and has also co-authored a book with the late French painter Balthus, entitled La Quete de l'essentiel (1995).

Reviews
"'Courageous and carefully considered ... Zeki's book is wide in its sympathies and sources, and it deserves attention as part of a fascinating enquiry set to continue for many years to come." (Brain, November 2009)

"Set ... quite apart from the snappiness of most contemporary science-writing ... the book thinks hard, feels warmly and puts out provocative suggestions." (London Review of Books, October 2009)

"I enjoyed reading this book and appreciated the attempt of the author to bridge the expansive chasm between experimental result on visual sensory input and the intimate human experiences for which we all strive." (The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, September 2009)

"Zeki's book has a beautiful and enigmatic cover and title. Zeki explores the unachievable through the works of artists and writers, concluding with Freud's Civilisation and its Discontents. Counsellors with a background both in neuroscience and an interest in the arts will find it a fascinating read." (Therapy Today, September 2009)

"An exuberant read." (Times Higher Education, April 2009)

"The book offers a glimpse into the physiological, neurological and emotional mechanisms of the most profound human part of our experience." (Yoga and Health, February 2009)

"This is a brave and unusual book-what you are trying to do is look at the detailed neuroarchitecture of the brain, your particular specialty is how the brain sees (vision), and then apply it to a wider range of cultural ideas. I loved this book." (Andrew Marr, Start The Week, Radio 4, November 2008)

"What was once dangerous territory is now the hottest theme in brain research. the subtitle of Semir Zeki's excellent new book is Love, Creativity and the Quest for Human Happiness ... .One of the world's leading neurophysiologist [Zeki] has turned to brain imaging to explore matters as seemingly outside brain science's territory as beauty in literature and art - and even 'romantic love.'" (Guardian, December 2008)

"This is going to lead to a new way of writing about the arts, and a new audience for certain kinds of science at the same time. (Start The Week, Radio 4, November 2008)

Book Information
ISBN 9781405185578
Author Semir Zeki
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 408g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 155mm * 21mm