In his forthcoming book, Soul Made Flesh, Carl Zimmer elegantly describes the historical shift from an earth-centric view of reality to a brain-centered one:

"Today the brain is the center of our existence. Its neurochemistry encodes our selves. Our memories, emotions, and reasoning are mapped across its anatomy. But this was not always the case. In the early 1600s, the brain was considered little more than a bowl full of curds, an unsuitable organ for the work of the soul.

By 1670 the brain had taken center stage. Soul Made Flesh looks at those remarkable decades in which the Neurocentric Age--our own--was born. It was a time of unimaginable turbulence, full of bloody civil wars, religious strife, plagues, fires--and of scientific revolution. The cosmos was changing from an Earth-centered cluster of heavenly orbs to an abyss of stars. Alchemy was giving way to modern chemistry. And the human body was no longer made of the four humours, transformed into an earthen machine. In Oxford, a league of natural philosophers dared to take the scientific revolution to the soul itself. Making the first accurate maps of the brain, they forged the science of neurology--even giving it its name."

Carl's impeccable research and humble prose bring one back to an era where humanity began our long trek towards our emerging neurosociety.

Note: As the thousands of you who have been coming to Brain Waves can see, I've moved over to Moveable Type publishing system which now has comments and a categorization of previous posts. Please continue to take advantage of these features to accelerate the social discussion of the perils and promise that neurotechnology holds for humanity. Thanks to Hylton and Glenn for making the MT move worth the wait.