Homo cerebralis

Few phenomena in the field of life sciences cultivate such a strong fascination as the brain and the way it functions. In his book, Michael Hagner leads through the cultural-historical developments of brain research from Descartes to the present.

Until the late 1800s the brain was regarded as the »domicile of the soul«, as »organ of the mind« and as the material link between body and soul. And so it was in the 1900s that the brain and skull teachings of Franz Joseph Gall and Romantic natural philosophy, paved the way to the modern-day science of the brain and to a new understanding of the relationship between body and mind. Michael Hagner’s book tells the story of Homo cerebralis and brain research up to and including the current debates about free will and brain death.