Antioch, CA, October 16, 2012 –(PR.com)– Solas Press announced today the imminent release for publication of What Makes You Tick?: A New Paradigm for Neuroscience. As the title suggests it raises the profound question of how we humans interact with our world.
The commonsense view of the world is that it is constituted of material things, that can be touched and measured; and immaterial entities, such as general laws and thoughts. In art, literature, politics, personal improvement, and indeed in most fields of endeavor, we ignore the immaterial or spiritual at our peril. In science (with notable exceptions in behaviorist psychology and quantum physics) materialism has led to wonderful scientific advances. However, materialism in contemporary neuroscience limits the development of theory. The assumption that human thoughts are at most a result of neural interactions, or a so called epiphenomena, limits the concepts and treatments it can offer.
Solas Press will release the book for publication in October of 2012. The author, Gerard Verschuuren, directs his discussion not only through the technicalities of science but, in easily understood terms, to a more general reader. In a field strewn with neologisms, he brings a gift of laying out complex concepts in clear terms that undoubtedly will encourage the reader to apply author’s profound logic in a broader sphere.
Already our ARCs (advance reader copies) have evoked surprise and praise.
Comment
“Like Sherrington, Penfield, Eccles, and other eminent scientists before him, Dr. Verschuuren has immersed himself and the reader with him in the search for an answer to the mind-brain problem. Using examples from modern neuroscience research, he takes us on a coherent journey from the molecular level of DNA and genes, through synaptic transmission and neuronal function to the physical substance of the brain in search of the mind. Far from dismissing science and physics, he demonstrates how any cogent theory of mind must also include metaphysical constructs. This book makes understandable the sometimes complex theories on the mind-brain conundrum. Dr. Verschuuren gently reminds those of us who have the opportunity to work with the brain on a daily basis, that we are not mind surgeons.” – Paul J. Camarata, M.D., FACS
Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery
University of Kansas School of Medicine
“Dr. Verschuuren is a refreshing voice in this misguided, half-truthed neuro world we live in today. There is as much, if not more, to learn about what the brain isn’t than what it is and getting these illusions straight will help us all be able to live in truth. Kudos to Dr. Verschuuren to have such a courageous voice.” – Kevin J. Fleming, Ph.D.
Founder
Grey Matters International, Inc.
www.kevinflemingphd.com
“What Makes You Tick is a helpful guide on the self and its brain. It brings together a number of related themes, making complicated concepts understandable and exposing the faulty thinking found in scientific reductionism. The book serves as an important reminder about what is at stake in the mind-brain discussion.” – Paul Copan
Professor and Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics
Palm Beach Atlantic University
Admittedly, knowledge is always a sort of simplification of reality, an abstraction from complexity and detail, but that doesn’t mean that the simpler explanation is always the more knowledgeable. Complex realities demand complex explanations, at least for human rationality. And there are few earthly realities as complex—or as fascinating, or as sure to crisscross boundaries and transcend themselves—as the human brain. Recognizing this complexity, Dr. Verschuuren brings together ideas from philosophy, physics, genetics, and neuroscience to suggest a new paradigm for neuroscience. While the intra-disciplinary ideas will be subject to the criticism from each of these fields, Verschuuren has succeeded indirectly in raising anew the perennial question of how a university should be constructed to allow for interdisciplinarity. The brainy dialogue of disciplines undertaken in this book provokes the further question of what makes our universities tick. – Richard Schenk OP
President of the Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt
Bibliographic Data
ISBN 978-1-893426; What Makes You Tick?: A New Paradigm for Neuroscience; Trade Paper; 6” x 9”; Pages 140; The book will be available from Solas Press and from bookstores. It is distributed by Ingram and Baker & Taylor.
The Author
Gerard M. (N.) Verschuuren is a scientist, writer, speaker, and consultant, and author working at the interface of science and philosophy. He is a human geneticist who also earned a doctorate in the philosophy of science, and studied and worked at universities in Europe and the United States.
Solas Press
Solas Press of Antioch California is an independent publisher of non-fiction. Since 1999 it has brought to the public eye critical works of enduring value and works that are worthwhile contributions to contemporary thought.
Solas Press 4627 Shetland Way Antioch CA 94531
(www.solaspress.com Tele/Fax 925 978 9781 Email info@solaspress.com)