We Know It When We See It: What the Neurobiology of Vision Tells Us about How We Think

by Richard Masland

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

We Know It When We See It is a layman accessible examination of sight and the incredible neurobiology of its cooperation with the body. Released 10th March 2020 by Hatchette on their Basic Books imprint, it's 272 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. t's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

There are a handful of engaging and adept "everyman" science writers who manage to break down and convey complex, even profound, concepts into digestible parts for non-specialists. It's a distinct gift and not one that all science writers have in equal measure. Happily, Dr. Masland seems to be quite adept at instruction without obfuscation, and I really enjoyed reading this densely instructive (and entertaining) treatise.

The book proceeds logically, building and defining the concepts from perception, through sight, how neurons are built up and interact, signaling pathways, some brain physiology and moving along to how the brain interprets the sent signals, what that means for the body in general and more widely, possible applications for machine learning and AI. (Exciting / fascinating stuff)!

The text throughout is meticulously annotated and full of links to further more specialized/complex reading for the especially interested. The author also includes short chapter notes at the end of the book with expanded info on chapter subjects. There is a comprehensive bibliography and further reading list, as well as a good glossary, but no index.

This book reminds me a lot of some of the best classes of my university career; enlightening and educational lectures with an engaged and competent professor. The text is never overly academic or pedantic (or dull), but it will take some effort to extract and learn the presented information.

Five stars, fascinating and worthwhile book for everyone.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.