Theatre of the Mind

Theatre of the Mind is a captivating look at consciousness that explores the most recent and controversial research on the brain. Author Jay Ingram, co-host and producer of the Discovery Channel’s award-winning Daily Planet, gives us popular science at its best, ushering us into the Theatre of the Mind for a fascinating look at how we think and how various cultures consider consciousness.

A captivating look at consciousness, exploring the most recent and controversial research on the brain.

If the brain is the theatre, consciousness is the play. But who or what controls what we watch and how we watch it?

In Theatre of the Mind, Jay Ingram, whose past scientific investigations include the properties of honey on toast and the complexities of the barmaid’s brain, tackles one of the most controversial of subjects: consciousness. Scientists have long tried to map our brains and understand how it is that we think and are self-aware, but what do we really know? Any discussion of the brain raises more questions than answers, and Ingram illuminates some of the most perplexing ones: What happens in our minds when we’re driving and we suddenly realize that we don’t remember the last few miles of highway? How do we remember images, sounds, and aromas from our past so vividly, and why do we often recreate them so differently in our dreams? Ingram’s latest book is a mind-bending experience, a cerebral, stylish ride through the history, philosophy, and science of the brain and the search for the discovery of the self.

What a fascinating work . . . Ingram appears to have read everything of value in this nascent field, talked to most of the key experts-and then cast the results in admirably clear prose. - Toronto Star

Ingram works his magic of translating scientific research into the coinage of common understanding . . . As always, [he] delivers the goods . . . a lot of fun. - Globe and Mail (Toronto)