Human intelligence is among the most powerful forces on earth. It builds sprawling cities, vast cornfields, coffee plantations, and complex microchips; it takes us from the atom to the limits of the universe. Understanding how brains build intelligence is among the most fascinating challenges of modern science. How does the biological brain, a collection of billions of cells, enable us to do things no other species can do? In this book John Duncan, a scientist who has spent thirty years studying the human brain, offers an adventure story—the story of the hunt for basic principles of human intelligence, behavior, and thought."John Duncan, one of the world's leading cognitive neuroscientists... makes a convincing case that [the brain's frontal and parietal lobes] constitute a special circuit that is crucial for both [British psychologist Charles] Spear-man's 'g' and for intelligent behavior more generally." Wall Street Journal
“This is an elegant book. The elegance begins with its appearance: slender, with sparing cover adornment in subdued colours, and no capital letters in the title or the author’s name. It continues with the book’s literary style, which is graceful without being flowery, engaging and easily comprehensible without being simplistic. And, most important, it extends to John Duncan’s treatment of his topic.” Times Higher Education
Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science
Choice Outstanding Academic Title
