Brain and Visual Perception

“Hubel and Wiesel’s contributions to visual neurophysiology are truly staggering. The book is impressive in providing organization to the sheer mass of data and theories that emerged from the individual journal of articles.” –PsycCRITIQUES”… The entire book is an inspiration to read. The original papers and the additional chapters are beautifully written … Read today, some 50 years after the initial work was published, the papers still retain their freshness and their capacity to arouse wonder, not only at the way in which nature has elaborated such an impressive organ, but also at the tenacity and the powerful conceptual thinking that was behind their collected work … Neuroscienceshould rejoice that, during a mere 25 years, its world was enriched not only by a wealth of knowledge but also by new standards of evidence and elegance of methodology which have left a permanentimprint.” –Semir Zeki in Brain”The book’s glory is that the commentaries sandwiching each paper illuminate the workings of one of the most productive collaborations in the history of biology. Hubel and Wiesel describe the joy of mom-and-pop science where the collaborators do the work and weigh what to do next … the book brings their work all together–complete with the authors’ retrospective evaluations of their work … a gem in the history of the field and a core resource …“–Robert Wurtz in ScienceAdvance Praise for Brain and Visual Perception”For those who came of age admiring the scientific adventures of Hubel and Wiesel, this book is an opportunity to look back and wonder. For those who came after, it will be an inspiration. This is a marvel of a book, written in David Hubel’s disarmingly engaging voice, a must have, a must read.“–A. Damasio, neuroscientist and author of Descartes’ Error and Looking for Spinoza”David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel’s book describes the wonderful period in neurophysiology when they worked on the early mammalian visual system. I found it fascinating reading.“–Francis Crick, Nobel Laureate and author of The Astonishing Hypothesis”A rare opportunity to peek into the minds of two giants of twentieth century science - David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel. Each of their classic papers reads like a Sherlock Holmes novel, but the accompanying commentaries and autobiographies, packed with witty, whimsical asides and Hubelisms, bring out the human side of science - reminding us that great science is a judicious blend of intuition, imagination and sheer tenacity rather than a cold rational process ofthe kind one usually associates with Holmes. It’s especially refreshing to see their low-tech approach in an era of high-tech ‘big science’ dominated by brain imaging and gee whizneophrenology.“–V.S. Ramachandran, BBC Reith Lecturer for 2003 and author of A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness”Brain and Visual Perception is an elegantly presented and well-organized collection of critical and important papers from the 25-year collaboration of Hubel and Wiesel. This is a valuable volume. Scientists will want it because, whether or not you like the commentaries, you have to admit that they are fascinating reading in themselves.” –Nature Neuroscience”Hubel and Wiesel, as much as any other scientists, are responsible for our current view of the brain, its function, and how it is molded by the environment. This book will provide students and established scientists alike insight into the roots of modern neuroscience, a view into one of the most productive collaborations in the field, and some of the best examples of scientific writing in the literature.“–David Ferster, Professor of Neurobiology andPhysiology, Northwestern University”Beginning around 1960, David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel took the study of the brain and its development from the realm of philosophy to biology. These papers and the commentaries that accompany them put the reader inside the heads of the scientists who gave us out modern understanding of the cerebral cortex, often by asking the next logical question, but always with appreciation for the beauty of the system.“–Michael P. Stryker, W.F. Ganong Professor ofPhysiology, University of California, San Francisco”The book is much more than just a catalogue of papers, starting with the biographies of the two Nobel Prize Winners and four chapters on the research background at the time. These chapters are in themselves fascinating and outline the pivotal role played in the development of their research by Steve Kuffler as well as the other major figures in neurophysiology.“–Physiology News”Hubel and Wiesel’s contributions to visual neurophysiology are truly staggering. The book is impressive in providing organization to the sheer mass of data and theories that emerged from the individual journal of articles.” –PsycCRITIQUES”… The entire book is an inspiration to read. The original papers and the additional chapters are beautifully written … Read today, some 50 years after the initial work was published, the papers still retain their freshness and their capacity to arouse wonder, not only at the way in which nature has elaborated such an impressive organ, but also at the tenacity and the powerful conceptual thinking that was behind their collected work … Neuroscienceshould rejoice that, during a mere 25 years, its world was enriched not only by a wealth of knowledge but also by new standards of evidence and elegance of methodology which have left a permanentimprint.” –Semir Zeki in Brain”The book’s glory is that the commentaries sandwiching each paper illuminate the workings of one of the most productive collaborations in the history of biology. Hubel and Wiesel describe the joy of mom-and-pop science where the collaborators do the work and weigh what to do next … the book brings their work all together–complete with the authors’ retrospective evaluations of their work … a gem in the history of the field and a core resource …“–Robert Wurtz in ScienceAdvance Praise for Brain and Visual Perception”For those who came of age admiring the scientific adventures of Hubel and Wiesel, this book is an opportunity to look back in wonder. For those who came after, it will be an inspiration. This is a marvel of a book, written in David Hubel’s disarmingly engaging voice, a must have, a must read.“–A. Damasio, neuroscientist and author of Descartes’ Error and Looking for Spinoza”David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel’s book describes the wonderful period in neurophysiology when they worked on the early mammalian visual system. I found it fascinating reading.“–Francis Crick, Nobel Laureate and author of The Astonishing Hypothesis”A rare opportunity to peek into the minds of two giants of twentieth century science–David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel. Each of their classic papers reads like a Sherlock Holmes novel, but the accompanying commentaries and autobiographies, packed with witty, whimsical asides and Hubelisms, bring out the human side of science - reminding us that great science is a judicious blend of intuition, imagination and sheer tenacity rather than a cold rational process ofthe kind one usually associates with Holmes. It’s especially refreshing to see their low-tech approach in an era of high-tech ‘big science’ dominated by brain imaging and gee whiz neophrenology.“–V.S.Ramachandran, BBC Reith Lecturer for 2003 and author of A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness”Hubel and Wiesel, as much as any other scientists, are responsible for our current view of the brain, its function, and how it is molded by the environment. This book will provide students and established scientists alike insight into the roots of modern neuroscience, a view into one of the most productive collaborations in the field, and some of the best examples of scientific writing in the literature.“–David Ferster, Professor of Neurobiology andPhysiology, Northwestern University”Brain and Visual Perception is an elegantly presented and well-organized collection of critical and important papers from the 25-year collaboration of Hubel and Wiesel. This is a valuable volume. Scientists will want it because, whether or not you like the commentaries, you have to admit that they are fascinating reading in themselves.” –Nature Neuroscience”Beginning around 1960, David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel took the study of the brain and its development from the realm of philosophy to biology. These papers and the commentaries that accompany them put the reader inside the heads of the scientists who gave us our modern understanding of the cerebral cortex, often by asking the next logical question, but always with appreciation for the beauty of the system.“–Michael P. Stryker, W.F. Ganong Professor ofPhysiology, University of California, San Francisco”The book is much more than just a catalogue of papers, starting with the biographies of the two Nobel Prize Winners and four chapters on the research background at the time. These chapters are in themselves fascinating and outline the pivotal role played in the development of their research by Steve Kuffler as well as the other major figures in neurophysiology.“–Physiology News

David H. Hubel is John Franklin Enders University Professor of Neurobiology, Emeritus, at Harvard Medical School.

Torsten N. Wiesel is Director of the Shelby White and Leon Levy Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior and President Emeritus of Rockefeller University. He is also Secretary General of the Human Frontier Science Program and President of the International Brain Research Organization.