In this truly unique book, renowned British-born neurologist Oliver Sacks explores the greatest mysteries of the human mind through the compelling case studies of his patients. "Patients are the center of my work and my life," he writes, defining a professional and human scope that brings him into daily contact with illnesses that raise "inherently fundamental" questions. His patients continually draw him to questions, which in turn draw him back to them. Thus, the reader will find "in the following stories and studies a continuous movement from one direction to another."

These are strange stories from a reality different from our own, featuring characters each living in their own unique, private, and "real" world. The author recounts bizarre tales of people who are like "travelers to unimaginable lands." Meet the lost sailor who has lost his sense of time, imprisoned in a single, endlessly repeating moment; the intellectually challenged twins with a phenomenal ability for rapid calculation; the man who thinks he is a dog; and of course, the musician unable to recognize shapes, who mistook his wife's head for a hat. These and other fascinating stories fill the book's four sections.

Dr. Sacks emphasizes the complex relationship between body and mind, asserting that their unity is what constitutes a human being. He argues for a new, more integrated medicine that does not treat the body in isolation from the mind and spirit. This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the strange and wonderful workings of the brain. "But what truths! And what tales! And what shall we compare them with? We may not have any existing models, metaphors, or myths. Is it time, perhaps, for new symbols, new myths?"

• Publisher: Arab Scientific Publishers, Inc.
• Author: Oliver Sacks
• ISBN: 9789953876740
• Number of Pages: 300
• Year of publication: 2009
• Cover Type: Paperback