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edited by Donald B. Tower, 424 pp, $38, New York, Raven Press, 1983.

Harold L. Klawans, MD, Reviewer
Chicago

Arch Neurol. 1984;41(1):21.

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This volume is more than merely a book; it is also an odyssey and the product of that odyssey. The odyssey is the search conducted by the author to learn about the reference ("Hensing, 1719: An Account of the First Chemical Examination of the Brain and the Discovery of Phosphorus Therein"), which the forefather of neurochemistry, Thudichum, concluded represented the first chemical fact ascertained by investigation of the brain itself. This motive explains both the wonder and shortcomings of this book.

The book consists of several parts. There is a prologue of some 30 pages summarizing the history of Europe up to the time of Hensing, focusing especially on Germany. While this bravura act is laudable, no reader who is not already familiar with the history can digest the rapid succession of facts and dynasties, and any reader who is will probably not profit significantly from these brief reminders. Once . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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