The Human Brain

The Human Brain

Paul Glees

New York, Cambridge University Press, 1988. 204 pp.

In his most recent book, The Human Brain, Paul Glees, Emeritus Professor of Neuroanatomy and Histology at the University of Gottingen, attempts to expand upon two of his earlier works (Das Menschliche Gehrin [1968] and Experimental Neurology [1961]). As the author states, the book draws upon his “experience and accumulated teaching material,” especially his recent teaching experiences at Cambridge University. Although the book is relatively short, its approach to neurobiology is strikingly comprehensive. Glees places great emphasis on anatomy (human and comparative), embryology, and histology, but there are also numerous small pockets of neurophysiology and neuropathology, with occasional clinical correlations. Much of the first part of the book, in particular, is written for the novice in neurobiology. Its style is simple, with an emphasis on basics. There are many interesting figures and drawings; the first 20 pages of the book contain 30 figures. Despite the often simple style, it is one of the rare books which may be read on several levels, and its figures contain large quantities of valuable information.

The book possesses a number of strengths, the first being its evolutionary approach to neurobiology. This approach is particularly apparent in chapters one and two. Thus, there is a significant amount of comparative anatomy, and the reader gains a sense of the development of the human brain over time. The phylogenetic approach, missing from most books, provides this one with added value. The above-mentioned evolutionary/phylogenetic approach extends to the author’s explanations for the relative development of certain brain structures. These explanations tend to have a teleological flavor, making them somewhat simplistic, though often intriguing. While the author’s evolutionary approach often gives the reader additional information, at times the information is incorrect. Thus, Figures 2.1 and 2.12 contain major paleo-anthropological errors. For example, David Pilbeam’s work in the Siwalik hills has demonstrated that the sivapithecines were probably an early form of orangutan rather than early hominids. Moreover, Paranthropus, a taxonomic term applied to the robust South African australopithecines, is a term that was largely abandoned in the early 1950-s as a result of the work of Le Gros-Clark, S.L. Wasburn, and others. These errors may be attributed, in part, to the author’s references, which are rapidly becoming outdated (e.g., De Beer’s Bildatlas der Evolution [1964], Howells’ Early Man [1966], Day’s Guide to Fossil Man [1967], and Le Gros-Clark’s History of Primates {1958]).

For the most part, the book is comprehensive and well organized, containing 14 chapters on subjects ranging from the peripheral nervous system (”Touch, pain and proprioception”) to the central nervous system (”The cerebral hemispheres,” “The brainstem and cerebellum”). The chapter which deals with neuroglia is particularly interesting; it is here, perhaps more than at any other point in the book, that the author divulges some of his knowledge and tremendous expertise.

Apart from the volume’s scattered grammatical errors, sentences are often convoluted and difficult to understand. It is unclear whether this flaw may be attributed to the author’s style or to the nature of the translation; however, some passages are misleading, a particularly worrisome fault in a book intended for novices. For instance, the following sentence implies that there is no cardiopulmonary circulation: “As already emphasised in the section on brain metabolism, the supply of nourishment originating in the liver reaches the brain via the vascular system.” Furthermore, there are quite a few errors in the book’s figures (e.g., in Figure 7-6, CA, cerebral aqueduct, is labeled AC, anterior commissure; in Figure 7-7, dln, dorsolateral nucleus, is labeled ins, insular cortex).

Despite these relatively minor flaws, this book distinguishes itself because of the organization, wealth of information, and evolutionary and teleological approaches. Most notable, however, is the fact that it may be read on multiple levels. For this reason, I would recommend The Human Brain to a broad audience, either as an introduction to the field of neurobiology or to reacquaint the reader with the basics and to gain a different (that is, teleological) perspective.