Dehaene’s fourth insightful exploration of neuroscience will pay dividends for attentive readers.
Computers learn, but they will not hold a candle to humans for the foreseeable future, according to this expert overview of learning.
Dehaene (Cognitive Psychology/Collège de France (Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts, 2014, etc.) emphasizes that a fly can learn and that a newborn’s brain contains a great deal of information thanks to several billion years of evolution. Unfortunately, he writes, “evolution adapts each organism to its ecological niche, but it does so at an appallingly slow rate.” However, “the ability to learn…acts much faster; it can change behavior within the span of a few minutes, which is the very quintessence of learning.” Never mind our opposable thumb, upright posture, fire, tools, or language; it is education that enabled humans to conquer the world. “We are not simply Homo Sapiens, but Homo docens—the species that teaches itself,” writes the author. Short-term memory of a literate person is almost double that of someone who has never attended school. IQ (a supposedly fixed concept) increases several points for each additional year of education. In the first of the book’s occasionally dense but mostly accessible sections, Dehaene defines learning as simply forming an internal model of the outside world. In the second, he describes how learning occurs. A computer leaves the assembly line as a blank slate, but a newborn’s brain already possesses circuits enabling it to generate abstract formulas and the ability to choose wisely from those formulas according to their plausibility. The third section defines “four pillars of learning” that make our brain the most effective learning device. “Attention” carefully selects relevant signals. "Active engagement" (i.e., curiosity) generates hypotheses. “Error feedback” corrects the mental model when the world violates our expectations. Finally, “consolidation,” which involves sleep as a key component, transfers knowledge to long-term memory, freeing neural circuits for further learning. The best educators, whether parents or teachers, follow these principles, and the author urges their general adoption.
Dehaene’s fourth insightful exploration of neuroscience will pay dividends for attentive readers.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-55988-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The sub-title of this book is "Reflections on Education with Special Reference to the Teaching of English in the Upper Forms of Schools." But one finds in it little about education, and less about the teaching of English. Nor is this volume a defense of the Christian faith similar to other books from the pen of C. S. Lewis. The three lectures comprising the book are rather rambling talks about life and literature and philosophy. Those who have come to expect from Lewis penetrating satire and a subtle sense of humor, used to buttress a real Christian faith, will be disappointed.
Pub Date: April 8, 1947
ISBN: 1609421477
Page Count: -
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1947
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
