The Music Instinct

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 03:37:30 +0000

Why have all human cultures — today and throughout history — made music? Why does music excite such rich emotion? How do we make sense of musical sound?These are questions that have, until recently, remained mysterious. Now The Music Instinct explores how the latest research in music psychology and brain science is piecing together the puzzle of how our minds understand and respond to music. Ranging from Bach fugues to nursery rhymes to heavy rock, Philip Ball interweaves philosophy, mathematics, history and neurology to reveal why music moves us in so many ways.Without requiring any specialist knowledge, The Music Instinct will both deepen your appreciation of the music you love, and open doors to music that once seemed alien, dull or daunting, offering a passionate plea for the importance of music in education and in everyday life.

How to Grow a Human. Reprogramming Cells and Redes

Sat, 10 Dec 2022 04:18:11 +0000

A cutting-edge examination of what it means to be human and to have a ‘self’ in the face of new scientific developments in genetic editing, cloning and neural downloading.After seeing his own cells used to grow clumps of new neurons – essentially mini-brains – Philip Ball begins to examine the concepts of identity and consciousness. Delving into humanity’s deep evolutionary past to look at how complex creatures like us emerged from single-celled life, he offers a new perspective on how humans think about ourselves.In an age when we are increasingly encouraged to regard the ‘self’ as an abstract sequence of genetic information, or as a pattern of neural activity that might be ‘downloaded’ to a computer, he return us to the body – to flesh and blood – and anchors a conception of personhood in this unique and ephemeral mortal coil. How to Build a Human brings us back to ourselves – but in doing so, it challenges old preconceptions and values. It asks us to rethink how we exist in the world.

Ball Philip — Knigausa Bookstore: Russian Books

The Music Instinct

How to Grow a Human. Reprogramming Cells and Redes