Rose and Abi-Rached make a convincing argument for a more positive engagement between the social and brain sciences in their discussion of the effects of neuroscience on public understanding of the self.
---Wayne Hall, LancetWhat strikes one when reading Neuro is how well the authors know what they are writing about. Their strategy is one of informed, balanced assessment, carefully weighing promises against perils, methodological conundrums against technical breakthroughs, genuine in sights against promissory overclaim--all against a well-researched background of historical developments, institutional and personal entanglements, discursive surrounds, and political and institutional pressures.---Jan Slaby, Rezensionen
[I]t is essential reading. If you want to understand neuroscience--rather than just facts about neuroscience--Neuro is probably one of the most important books you could read. And the same goes if you are a neuroscientist or just interested in how we, as a society, are integrating the study of the brain into how we live.---Vaughan Bell, Mind Hacks
"Neuro makes a significant and original contribution to our understanding of the impact of the brain sciences on social and cultural processes. The scholarship throughout is brilliant. This book gives us extremely perceptive, detailed, and illuminating analyses of what is actually being claimed in the various branches of the neurosciences. It will attract a great deal of interest and controversy."—Emily Martin, author of Bipolar Expeditions: Mania and Depression in American Culture
"The 'neurofication' of the humanities, social sciences, public policy, and the law has attracted promoters and detractors. What we have lacked until now is a critical but open-minded look at 'neuro.' This is what Rose and Abi-Rached have given us in this thoughtful and well-researched book. They do not jump on the neuro bandwagon, but instead offer a clear accounting of its appeal, its precedents in psychology and genetics, its genuine importance, and ultimately its limitations. A fascinating and important book."—Martha J. Farah, University of Pennsylvania
As the title implies, this book offers interesting thoughts and findings for any scholar with a connection to neuroscience.
Neuro is, in fact, a timely manifesto that urges the social sciences and the life sciences to ditch the mutual suspicion and start working together in a spirit of critical friendship. It is all the more powerful given Rose's intimacy with the life sciences.---Anjana Ahuja, RSA Journal
"I enjoyed reading this book. It provides an interesting and comprehensive map of the many sciences and quasi-sciences that have embraced the 'neuro' prefix. I also appreciate how Rose and Abi-Rached manage to examine the explosion of 'neuros' with a critical eye, but without dismissing the genuine prospects that it may hold."—Michael E. Lynch, Cornell University
Neuro convincingly shows, in a thoughtful, encompassing yet meticulous manner, how the neurosciences achieved their exceptional status as the Big Science of today, and what the fundamental difficulties of research in this area are. It is clear that we have every reason to constructively engage with the developments in the neurosciences and that focusing exclusively on critiques of reductionism just would not do the trick.---Ties van de Werff, New Genetics and Society
