Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science

John Fleischman once again brings Phineas Gage to the pages of brain science history with his engaging "Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science."A frequent writer for Discover, Muse, and Air and Space Smithsonian magazines, Fleischman flexes his narrative voice as well as his scientific knowledge in this book for older children and young adult readers. The combination works wonderfully, making this almost a page-turning read. At first I was distracted by Fleischman's use of both past and present tense voices. What I decided was his use of present tense in telling Phineas's story brings immediacy to the narrative--a you-are-there type of storytelling, while past tense relates the scientific story preceding and following the events in Phineas's life.One reviewer tells us that all medical and most science students know the story of Phineas Gage because of his importance in studies in brain knowledge. So what is the story of Phineas's brain? In 1848 while leading his gang of railroad workers, Phineas suffered a terrible accident: his three-foot tamping iron was shot through his head, entering under his jaw and exiting through his frontal lobe. Fleischman asks the reader: Was he lucky or unlucky? You see, Phineas lived eleven and one-half more years, but everyone who knew him agreed this was no longer Phineas Gage. His personality changed.While Fleischman relates Phineas's story, he underscores everything with what doctors knew then about brain science in particular, and medicine in general. One photograph shows a group of doctors in street clothes standing around an operating table with a patient on it. No one knew about germs at that time.The most fascinating part of the book is how easily Fleischman weaves information about the brain, the story of brain science development, and various conclusions and theories made and discarded or enhanced. This is clearly a science book dressed out in a fantastic, but true story.I particularly was eager to read this book because my school placed this book as required reading for sixth grade this summer. Our reading list came about this way: one teacher created a list of all suggested books for additional reading found at the end of chapters in one of the textbooks. All are young adult books. I read reviews for all the books and whittled a list of 60-80 titles to about 15. We chose Phineas as required because of our principal, a former high school science teacher. She presented information about brain science at a pre-school workshop for teachers. The staff was fascinated, so I thought this kind of knowledge would benefit students as well. Add the bizarre story of Phineas's accident and this book should be a winner.Phineas's skull and tamping rod are on permanent display at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

This is a truly wonderful book, for young readers or adults. With due credit to Malcolm Macmillan's medical investigation An Odd Kind of Fame, author John Fleischman has reliably, contextually, and colorfully organized the story of Phineas Gage--the railroad construction worker who survived an iron bar through his skull--like no other work available. Fleischman's work especially shines when he highlights the different medical-social-historical issues weighing on the Gage case in the mid-19th century. He has more than done his homework: he has created a cross-disciplinary historical digest of this oddest of medical cases in a comprehensive and wholly involving way.

It's only about a half-hour's worth of reading for an adult, and it's written in language that most adults will find smarmy. Nevertheless, the introduction this book offers to the current state of knowledge about the human brain may well come as news to many adult readers, and the life story of the man Phineas Gage is fascinating. In 1848, Gage had a massive iron bar shot straight through his head in an accident with blasting powder. The bar entered through his mouth and existed through the top of his skull, all in an instant, and yet Gage lived. Any young reader will find this story vivid enough to keep her/his attention focused on the science that Gage's misfortune stimulated. I'm not a teacher, so my guess may be wrong, but I'd say this book is especially suitable to junior high readers.You'll find mention of Gage in a far more mature piece of writing - "Soul Made Flesh" by Carl Zimmer - which narrates the life-work of the 17th C Englishman, Thomas Willis, who first convinced at least some people that the brain was not merely a blob but in fact the seat of consciousness. I recommend that book heartily/brainily to all readers who enjoy the history of science. I'd also urge people with serious scientific interests to learn about the "Brainbow" project underway at the Harvard Center for Brain Science, directed by my smartest friend, Dr. Joshua Sanes.

Phineas Gage: A popular science book that doesn't underestimate children, and presents a fascinating medical oddity for their enrichment and entertainment.In Phineas Gage John Fleischman chronicles the adult life of a man who has the extreme misfortune to experience an iron rod fly through his head and out the top of his skull ... and live to tell the tale. Literally, in fact, as he sat chatting with his landlord about the accident while he waited the half hour for the nearest doctor to arrive. Despite the extreme improbability given the state of medical treatment in 1848, Phineas recovers from the incident and goes on to live an additional eleven years. However, the true subject of Fleischman's narrative is not really Phineas Gage as an individual, but rather how he helped inspire the medical community. In life, aspiring surgeons look at Gage's recovery as proof of a number of neurological theories. After his death his doctor finally reveals that his patient's recovery was not as "complete" as first suggested, and Phineas' medical history and remains go on to inspire and enlighten medical minds for decades to come.Phineas Gage is remarkable all on his own, and Fleischman makes his story available to young readers.

An amazing book that really perfectly describes the mystery and scientific marvel of how phineas gage survived a horrid accident.

A pretty easy read.

Arrived quickly, very reasonable price- A+++ seller. Thank you

Excellent read. What a devastating injury.