Fans pick 100 books like The Moral Conflict of Law and Neuroscience

By Peter A. Alces,

Here are 100 books that The Moral Conflict of Law and Neuroscience fans have personally recommended if you like The Moral Conflict of Law and Neuroscience. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience

W. A. Harris Author Of Zero to Birth: How the Human Brain Is Built

From my list on the evolution and development of the brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have wondered about what goes on in the brains of animals and people since I was a youth. My research career began by studying how some genes affect behavior. Little surprise, it turns out, that many such “behavioral” genes influence the way the brain is built. So, I began to study brain development using embryos from a variety of experimental laboratory animals and developed a university course on this topic. When I retired, I decided to share what I learned. The other books on this list are great examples of readable books that would likely be exciting to anyone else interested in the story of how the human brain is built.

W.'s book list on the evolution and development of the brain

W. A. Harris Why did W. love this book?

Not only does this book provide an up-to-date account of where science is at in terms of our basic understanding of how the brain works, but it also succeeds in putting this knowledge into a compelling history of basic discoveries. I really enjoyed this aspect of Cobb's book and tried to incorporate it into my book. 

So, I found it to be an excellent introduction to neuroscience and a great book about the process of how science progresses in jumps. It engenders real excitement in this still very lively field of study and celebrates the key advances in our conceptual understanding of the brain.

By Matthew Cobb,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Idea of the Brain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Shortlisted for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize

A New Statesman Book of the Year

This is the story of our quest to understand the most mysterious object in the universe: the human brain.

Today we tend to picture it as a computer. Earlier scientists thought about it in their own technological terms: as a telephone switchboard, or a clock, or all manner of fantastic mechanical or hydraulic devices. Could the right metaphor unlock the its deepest secrets once and for all?

Galloping through centuries of wild speculation and ingenious, sometimes macabre anatomical investigations, scientist and historian Matthew Cobb reveals how…


Book cover of The New Mind Readers: What Neuroimaging Can and Cannot Reveal about Our Thoughts

Mark Bartholomew Author Of Intellectual Property and the Brain: How Neuroscience Will Reshape Legal Protection for Creations of the Mind

From my list on how neuroscience will change our lives.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a law professor who has been teaching and writing in the area of intellectual property for 20 years. As my career went along, I came to realize how important it is to not just mechanically apply the legal rules but to think about why they are there. Intellectual property law—a 7 trillion-dollar legal regime governing one-third of the U.S. economy—continually guesses as to how the minds of artists and audiences work. The more I read about neuroscientific advances, the more I realized that these guesses are often wrong and need to be updated for a new technological age.

Mark's book list on how neuroscience will change our lives

Mark Bartholomew Why did Mark love this book?

This book does a great job of describing what is possible and what is not when it comes to neuroscience. Poldrack, a professor of psychology at Stanford, makes sure we don’t lose the forest for the trees, boiling down the basics of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a way that anyone can understand. He is particularly strong on describing about how this technology might be used outside of university laboratories, discussing potential applications in law, advertising, and treatment of mental illness.

By Russell A. Poldrack,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The New Mind Readers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A revealing insider's account of the power-and limitations-of functional MRI

The ability to read minds has long been a fascination of science fiction, but revolutionary new brain-imaging methods are bringing it closer to scientific reality. The New Mind Readers provides a compelling look at the origins, development, and future of these extraordinary tools, revealing how they are increasingly being used to decode our thoughts and experiences-and how this raises sometimes troubling questions about their application in domains such as marketing, politics, and the law.

Russell Poldrack takes readers on a journey of scientific discovery, telling the stories of the visionaries…


Book cover of Minority Report

Mark Bartholomew Author Of Intellectual Property and the Brain: How Neuroscience Will Reshape Legal Protection for Creations of the Mind

From my list on how neuroscience will change our lives.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a law professor who has been teaching and writing in the area of intellectual property for 20 years. As my career went along, I came to realize how important it is to not just mechanically apply the legal rules but to think about why they are there. Intellectual property law—a 7 trillion-dollar legal regime governing one-third of the U.S. economy—continually guesses as to how the minds of artists and audiences work. The more I read about neuroscientific advances, the more I realized that these guesses are often wrong and need to be updated for a new technological age.

Mark's book list on how neuroscience will change our lives

Mark Bartholomew Why did Mark love this book?

Sure, this book was written way back in 1956, but its dark tale of “mind reading” police is still just as captivating and relevant today. In Dick’s imagined future, three mutants are able to foresee crime before it occurs, allowing the cops to stop crime before it gets started. Like the mutants, today’s neural imaging machines are heralded as ways to see what people are thinking, revealing what they can’t or won’t voluntarily describe. The novel explores questions about expectations of privacy, the dangers of authoritarian regimes controlling invasive technologies, and the nature of free will—all issues that society will need to wrestle with as our understanding of the brain advances. 

By Philip K. Dick,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Minority Report as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Imagine a future where crimes can be detected before they are committed, and criminals are convicted and sentenced for crimes before committing them. This is the scenario of Philip K. Dick's classic story, now filmed by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Cruise.

In addition to MINORITY REPORT this exclusive collection includes nine other outstanding short stories by the twentieth century's outstanding SF master, three of which have been made into feature films.


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Book cover of I Am Taurus

I Am Taurus By Stephen Palmer,

The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.

Each of the sections is written from…

Book cover of The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours

Amy Shoenthal Author Of The Setback Cycle: How Defining Moments Can Move Us Forward

From my list on navigate career setbacks and transitions.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been fascinated by psychology and the science behind why people are the way they are. This is probably why as a journalist, I’ve always been drawn to writing personal profiles of fascinating people, digging deeper into how they overcame various obstacles and setbacks. I have read so many leadership books that focus on success, but really found a gap when it came to those in-depth stories, which is why I wrote The Setback Cycle, a career advice book that focuses specifically on that messy middle part of leadership. My goal was to share the stories of people who overcame setbacks while offering an actionable framework that guides us through our own.

Amy's book list on navigate career setbacks and transitions

Amy Shoenthal Why did Amy love this book?

I was fascinated while reading this book because it taught me so much about how the brain works, why we are the way we are, and how our brains differ. I enjoyed how the author debunked that if we’re more “right-brained,” we’re more creative, and if we’re more “left-brained,” we’re more creative.

The concept is a whole lot more nuanced than that. I also appreciated her take on nature vs. nurture and how that impacts the way our brains work. It took me a long time to read this because there was so much information to digest, but I felt like the education I received from this book was invaluable.

By Chantel Prat,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Neuroscience of You as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From University of Washington professor Chantel Prat comes The Neuroscience of You, a rollicking adventure into the human brain that reveals the surprising truth about neuroscience, shifting our focus from what’s average to an understanding of how every brain is different, exactly why our quirks are important, and what this means for each of us.

With style and wit, Chantel Prat takes us on a tour of the meaningful ways that our brains are dissimilar from one another. Using real-world examples, along with take-them-yourself tests and quizzes, she shows you how to identify the strengths and weakness of your own…


Book cover of The Conspiracy Against The Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror

May Leitz Author Of Girl Flesh: An Extreme Horror Novel About Love

From my list on unfathomable nightmares.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always seen myself as the kind of person that could tolerate any painful reality. My life has led me in directions that required me to delve deep into the difficult aspects to find some light at the end of the tunnel. Growing up in Texas, I’ve found that being tough is a prescription given to every child. The elements and culture were always difficult, and the realities of loss, drug addiction, and an exhaustive worker culture were a constant that required reinforcement or abandonment. The books I’ve read and written are a product of that environment and its necessities. 

May's book list on unfathomable nightmares

May Leitz Why did May love this book?

I wasn’t in a good mental state when I read this book, so the impact was deeply felt.

The book lines out in explicit detail how human consciousness was an accident of nature designed to make us miserable. I’ve grown to feel this worldview is deeply cynical, yet when I look back on it, I remember the moments where Thomas Ligotti punctuated himself with drab humor as the highlight.

A reader could come away feeling like this book provides small light in deep darkness. The blunt dissociative experience makes any writer shudder at doing this to an audience. 

By Thomas Ligotti,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Conspiracy Against The Human Race as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction outing, an examination of the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life through an insightful, unsparing argument that proves the greatest horrors are not the products of our imagination but instead are found in reality.

"There is a signature motif discernible in both works of philosophical pessimism and supernatural horror. It may be stated thus: Behind the scenes of life lurks something pernicious that makes a nightmare of our world."

His fiction is known to be some of the most terrifying in the genre of supernatural horror, but Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction book may be even scarier.…


Book cover of Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience

Kevin Davis Author Of The Brain Defense: Murder in Manhattan and the Dawn of Neuroscience in America's Courtrooms

From my list on neuroscience for non-scientists.

Why am I passionate about this?

Kevin Davis is the author of three non-fiction books about the criminal justice system, The Wrong Man, Defending the Damned and The Brain Defense. Davis has also authored eight nonfiction children’s books. He’s an award-winning journalist and magazine writer based in Chicago.

Kevin's book list on neuroscience for non-scientists

Kevin Davis Why did Kevin love this book?

This was a much-needed cautionary examination of the increasing hype about neuroscience. Following a period in which neuroscience suddenly became a pop culture phenomenon, Brainwashed aims to tamp things down. The book takes issue with how mainstream media trumpeted studies that supposedly show how the brain “lights up” when we kiss, listen to music or engage in other activities. Satel and Lilienfied explain what brain scans and neuroscientific reports really reveal and don’t reveal.

By Sally Satel, Scott O. Lilienfeld,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Brainwashed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What can't neuroscience tell us about ourselves? Since fMRI,functional magnetic resonance imaging,was introduced in the early 1990s, brain scans have been used to help politicians understand and manipulate voters, determine guilt in court cases, and make sense of everything from musical aptitude to romantic love. But although brain scans and other neurotechnologies have provided ground-breaking insights into the workings of the human brain, the increasingly fashionable idea that they are the most important means of answering the enduring mysteries of psychology is misguided,and potentially dangerous.In Brainwashed , psychiatrist and AEI scholar Sally Satel and psychologist Scott O. Lilienfeld reveal how…


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Book cover of Why We Hate: Understanding the Roots of Human Conflict

Why We Hate By Michael Ruse,

Why We Hate asks why a social animal like Homo sapiens shows such hostility to fellow species members. The invasion of the Ukraine by Russia? The antisemitism found on US campuses in the last year? The answer and solution lies in the Darwinian theory of evolution through natural selection.

Being…

Book cover of Early Childhood and Neuroscience: Theory, Research and Implications for Practice

Angela Hodgkins Author Of Strength-based Practice with Children and Families

From my list on why working with young children is awesome.

Why am I passionate about this?

My professional background is in working with children, my career began as an NNEB nursery nurse and I did many jobs (nanny, childminder, preschool, reception class, after school club, primary school, special school, and in learning support). I then trained as a teacher of adults and went on to be a college lecturer. I am now a senior university lecturer, but my heart has always been in the early years. I am passionate about highlighting the incredible work that is going on in the early years and in schools and have a strength-based, empowering, and optimistic view, which I try to instill in my students. Working with young children is a privilege and a joy.

Angela's book list on why working with young children is awesome

Angela Hodgkins Why did Angela love this book?

This book is changing the way we view children’s development. It explains brain development in a really easy-to-understand way and it gives a completely child-centred view.

Reading this book will help you to understand children and their behaviour and it will ultimately make you a better practitioner. It is a ‘must’ for anyone working with children.

By Mine Conkbayir,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Early Childhood and Neuroscience as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Highly Commended: Nursery World Awards 2017 Professional Book of the Year Early Childhood and Neuroscience is a practical guide to understanding the complex and challenging subject of neuroscience and its use (and misapplication) in early childhood policy and practice. The author begins by introducing the definition and history of neuroscience. The reader is then led through structured chapters discussing questions such as: Why should practitioners know about neuroscience? How can neuroscience help practitioners better provide for babies and children? and Is it relevant? Topics covered include the nature vs. nurture debate through the lens of neuroscience, epigenetics, the first 1001…


Book cover of Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind

Ai Hisano Author Of Visualizing Taste: How Business Changed the Look of What You Eat

From my list on a new understanding of your sensory experience.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a historian of the senses. When I first traveled to the United States, I was fascinated and overwhelmed by the smell and sound of the streets entirely different from my hometown in Japan. Since then, every time I go abroad, I enjoy various sensory experiences in each country. The first thing I always notice is the smell of the airport which is different from country to country. We all have the senses, but we sense things differently—and these differences are cultural. I wondered if they are also historical. That was the beginning of my inquiry into how our sensory experience has been constructed and changed over time.

Ai's book list on a new understanding of your sensory experience

Ai Hisano Why did Ai love this book?

I like the smell of rain. But I can’t explain what it actually smells like. Afterall, olfactory sensation is the “mute sense”—the one without words. To describe a certain smell, you are most likely using a metaphor like rosy smell or vanilla-like smell. Not only does smell have few words to describe it, but it is also a sensation with still a lot unknown. Barwich’s Smellosophy is a fascinating combination of science, philosophy, and history to explore the importance of this mysterious sensation in our society. While digging into philosophical and historical questions to explore how people in the past thought about the perception of smell, Barwich also interviews neuroscientists, perfumers, and chemists to explore how the modern science, as well as industry, is trying to figure out what the nose tells the brain and how the brain understands it.

By A. S. Barwich,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Smellosophy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An NRC Handelsblad Book of the Year

"Offers rich discussions of olfactory perception, the conscious and subconscious impacts of smell on behavior and emotion."
-Science

Decades of cognition research have shown that external stimuli "spark" neural patterns in particular regions of the brain. We think of the brain as a space we can map: here it responds to faces, there it perceives a sensation. But the sense of smell-only recently attracting broader attention in neuroscience-doesn't work this way. So what does the nose tell the brain, and how does the brain understand it?

A. S. Barwich turned to experts in…


Book cover of The Power of Pressure: Why Pressure Isn't the Problem, It's the Solution

Eric J. McNulty Author Of You're It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most

From my list on leadership to read before the sh!t hits the fan.

Why am I passionate about this?

The world is growing more turbulent, and every leader today has to be ready to be a crisis leader. I have been studying and teaching leadership and crisis leadership at Harvard for more than two decades. I have deployed to major incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and trained crisis teams around the world. I have seen that effective crisis leaders make “worst days” better. They unite and inspire, they protect communities, and, most important, they save lives. That’s why I have a passion to help current and aspiring leaders ready themselves and their organizations for whatever the world throws at them. 

Eric's book list on leadership to read before the sh!t hits the fan

Eric J. McNulty Why did Eric love this book?

My work on crisis leadership uses applied neuroscience to help people get “smarter their brains” by learning to work with and, in some cases counteracting, their instinctual reactions and ingrained patterns.

Jensen, who has worked with elite athletes as well as executives, draws on some of the same science (and more) in a practical approach to how to handle pressure. He goes through how to use breathing to tame anxiety and increase focus.

One insight I’ve found particularly useful is remembering what’s not at stake in a high-stakes situation. No matter what happens, your family, friends, and pets will still love and support you, for example. Knowing what you can count on makes a seemingly overwhelming challenge more manageable.

By Dane Jensen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Power of Pressure as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Be energized, but not overwhelmed

What’s the most pressure you’ve ever been under? How did you react? What helped? What didn’t? Over the past five years, Dane Jensen has asked these questions of thousands of high performers—from Olympic gold medalists to Navy SEALs, politicians, executives and busy parents. What has emerged from these conversations is that while everyone’s experiences under pressure are unique, pressure follows patterns and develops in predictable ways. If we can recognize the patterns, we can improve our ability to sidestep the biological traps that can sabotage us—and use the energy that accompanies pressure to thrive. The…


Book cover of The Neuroscience of Sleep and Dreams

Antonio Zadra Author Of When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep

From my list on the science of dreams.

Why am I passionate about this?

Although I had many intriguing dreams during my childhood, including fantastic flying dreams, the idea of becoming a sleep scientist never crossed my mind. All that changed during my first year in college. It was then that I experienced an exceptionally long and vivid lucid dream that changed my life; it was because of this dream that I decided to become a dream researcher. Today, I’m a professor of psychology at the University of Montreal, director of the department’s Dream Research Laboratory, and have published over 100 scientific articles and book chapters on sleep and dreams. I don’t have as many flying dreams as I once did, but I do have a really cool job while awake. 

Antonio's book list on the science of dreams

Antonio Zadra Why did Antonio love this book?

Written by a well-known sleep and dream scientist, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the neuroscience of sleep and dreams. In addition to covering a wide range of neuroscientific ideas and discoveries, this well-organized and easy to follow book discusses many of these sleep and dream-related findings within larger social as well as evolutionary contexts. The end result is a stimulating and enriching take on our current understanding of the science of sleep and dreams.

By Patrick McNamara,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Neuroscience of Sleep and Dreams as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book provides a complete introduction to the neuroscience of sleep and dreams in plain language. In it, Patrick McNamara outlines new discoveries in the science of sleep and dreams, places them within an evolutionary context, and brings them together with existing scientific findings and implications for sleep medicine. Unlike other introductory texts, the important evolutionary background and social nature of sleep and dreams is emphasized. Major advances in sleep medicine, sleep and memory, dream content analyzes, brain correlates of sleep stages and lifespan development of sleep are covered in depth. While the text is geared towards students, the general…


Book cover of The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience
Book cover of The New Mind Readers: What Neuroimaging Can and Cannot Reveal about Our Thoughts
Book cover of Minority Report

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