Capsule Reviews

Consciousness, The Social Conquest of Earth, How Not to Be Eaten, and Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms

Written byBob Grant

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by Christof Koch
The MIT Press, April 2012

In his latest book, Caltech neuroscientist Christof Koch sets out to conquer biology’s white whale—consciousness. Part memoir and part history-of-science lesson, Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist pays homage to the early pioneers of the study of consciousness—Francis Crick, with whom Koch collaborated for almost 20 years, and David Chalmers, among others—while detailing the important discoveries and technological advances making the field ever more relevant.

Koch signposts the journey using experiences, both mundane and transformative, from his life spent struggling to understand the monumental questions underpinning the study of consciousness. From toothaches to loss of faith in God, the author’s past, as he searchingly explores it, dovetails nicely with a firsthand tour of the field and its ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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