Another Day in the Monkey's Brain

144 Pages·2012·0.76 MB·English

by  Ralph Siegel

Another Day in the
Monkey’s Brain
<
This page intentionally left blank
A n o t h e r D a y
in the
M o n k e y ’ s
B r a i n
RALPH MITCHELL SIEGEL
Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience
Rutgers University
1
1
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further
Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright © 2012 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Introduction Copyright © 2012 by Oliver Sacks
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Siegel, Ralph Mitchell, 1958-2011.
Another day in the monkey’s brain/Ralph Mitchell Siegel.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-973434-4 (hardback: alk. paper) 1. Siegel, Ralph Mitchell,
1958-2011. 2. Neurophysiologists— United States — Biography. I. Title.
RC339.52.S553A32012
616.80092 — dc23
[B]
2011046543
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in USA on acid-free paper
To my truest love, my wife, Jasmine: holding hands in a yellow wood, we took
the road less travelled by; this has made all the difference in our journey.
“Sweet-in-the-bowl”
T o my children, my Dashiel and my Zoe, my endless source of “happy thoughts.”
I soar, with hopes and dreams for you, for your literary and scientifi c selves.
You taught me the art of making toe soup, and your encouragement and query
echo eternally.
“We all stand upon the shoulders of giants.”
A nd to my cherished family and friends, my valued colleagues and community
members: your relational roles to me often intersect, but I am confi dent that
each one of you will know how you have contributed your inspiration, encour-
agement, and willingness to be a part of my greater family, and feel the depth
of my gratitude for your boundless generosity in spirit, in time, and in energy.
This page intentionally left blank
The Question
To ask the hard question is simple;
Asking at meeting
With the simple glance of acquaintance
To what these go
And how these do:
To ask the hard question is simple,
The simple act of the confused will.
But the answer
Is hard and hard to remember . . .
— W. H. Auden
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
-
Introduction by Oliver Sacks xi
Preface xix
one
A Day in the Monkey’s Brain 1
two
A Short Salk Story 5
three
My First Encounter with Francis Crick 11
four
Chaos Through the Looking Glass 15
five
Bright Moments 27
six
Eighth Avenue Line at Fourteenth Street 35
seven
Modern Times 43
eight
Visual Irredentism 49
nine
Critique of Pure Cortical Topography 59