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An Odd Kind of Fame: Stories of Phineas Gage
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An Odd Kind of Fame: Stories of Phineas Gage Paperback - 2002

by Malcolm MacMillan


From the publisher

In 1848 a railway construction worker named Phineas Gage suffered an accident that made him a major curiosity of medicine and a significant figure in psychology and neuroscience: an explosion caused a tamping iron to be blown completely through his head, destroying the left frontal lobe of his brain. Gage survived the accident and remained in reasonable physical health for another eleven years. But his behavior changed markedly after the injury, and his case is considered to be the first to reveal the relation between the brain and complex personality characteristics. Yet almost nothing is known about him, and most of what is written is seriously in error.

In this book Malcolm Macmillan, a leading authority on Gage, covers all aspects of this fascinating story. He describes Gage's family and personal background, the context of his work and the accident, and Gage's subsequent history. He analyzes contemporary medical and newspaper reports of the accident and its consequences, and evaluates the treatment Gage received from Dr. John Martyn Harlow. He also looks at Harlow's own life and work. Macmillan examines Gage's place in the history of how functions came to be localized in the brain. He explores the many ways that Gage's tale has been represented and misrepresented through the years in popular, fictional, and scientific works. One of Macmillan's primary aims is to rescue the case from the predominantly fantastic accounts so that its real contribution to modern neuroscience can be understood. Partly for this reason, the appendices include facsimiles of Harlow's 1848 and 1868 reports, the primary sources about Gage, and previously unpublished CT scans of Gage's skull made in 1982.

Details

  • Title An Odd Kind of Fame: Stories of Phineas Gage
  • Author Malcolm MacMillan
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition 1st Edition
  • Pages 576
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Bradford Book, Cambridge, MA
  • Date August 7, 2002
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780262632591 / 0262632594
  • Weight 2.03 lbs (0.92 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.1 x 5.94 x 1.27 in (23.11 x 15.09 x 3.23 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

About the author

Malcolm Macmillan is Adjunct Professor in the School of Psychology at Deakin University, Australia.

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An Odd Kind of Fame: Stories of Phineas Gage
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

An Odd Kind of Fame: Stories of Phineas Gage

by Macmillan, Malcolm

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ISBN 13
9780262632591
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0262632594
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Description:
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002. 1st Edition . Paperback. Good. Deep tear in bottom of spine.
Item Price
$72.95
$4.99 shipping to USA