The act of reading is a miracle.

Every new reader's brain possesses the extraordinary capacity to rearrange itself beyond its original abilities in order to understand written symbols.

But how does the brain learn to read? As world-renowned cognitive neuroscientist and scholar of reading Maryanne Wolf explains in this impassioned book, we taught our brain to read only a few thousand years ago, and in the process changed the intellectual evolution of our species.

Wolf tells us that the brain that examined tiny clay tablets in the cuneiform script of the Sumerians is configured differently from the brain that reads alphabets or of one literate in today's technology.

There are critical implications to such an evolving brain.

Just as writing reduced the need for memory, the proliferation of information and the particular requirements of digital culture may short-circuit some of written language's unique contributions—with potentially profound consequences for our future.

Turning her attention to the development of the individual reading brain, Wolf draws on her expertise in dyslexia to investigate what happens when the brain finds it difficult to read.

For more information about the title Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, read the full description at Amazon.com, or see the following related books:

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Author: Maryanne Wolf

Publisher: Harper

Date: Sep. 1, 2007

List Price:

$25.95

Discount Price:

$16.04

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