A History of the Human Brain

From the Sea Sponge to CRISPR, How Our Brain Evolved

By: Bret Stetka

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Just over 125,000 years ago, humanity was going extinct until a dramatic shift occurred—Homo sapiens started tracking the tides in order to eat the nearby oysters. Before long, they’d pulled themselves back from the brink of extinction. What saved us during that period of endangerment? The human brain, and its evolutionary journey, is unlike anything else in history.

In A History of the Human Brain, Bret Stetka takes listeners through that far-reaching journey, showing exactly when and how the human brain evolved to shape who we are today. A History of the Human Brain also tackles the question of where the brain will take us next, exploring the burgeoning con­cepts of epigenetics and new technologies like CRISPR.

©2021 Bret Stetka (P)2022 Timber Press

Critic reviews

“A History of the Human Brain is a unique, enlightening, and provocative account of the most significant question we can ask about ourselves.”—Richard Wrangham, author of The Goodness Paradox

“One of the most lucid, clear-eyed, and talented science writers of our time—Bret Stetka—now turns his attention to the evolution of the human brain, taking us on a captivating journey from its origins to the present, enhancing our understanding of how this phenomenal organ and its 100 billion neurons work.”—Eric Topol, MD, author of Deep Medicine

“There are lots of ideas out there about consciousness and the human brain—the untidy product of millions of years of evolution. Bret Stetka comes as close as you could hope to making sense of them in this entertaining and wide-ranging book.”—Ian Tattersall, curator emeritus, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History

Enjoyable

Very well written, and narrated. Well worth a listen. I’ll be turning my son onto it

Sterile

This title has little central thesis and nothing new to say. It is largely a survey of more interesting reads.

Really Interesting

Interesting and thought provoking.
Great narration. A more modern take on classics like Sagan’s Broca’s Brain.

Loved it!

Love the way it was written. Easily accessible to someone who isn’t a scientist. My only complaint is the narrator accenting certain words. If that’s what it’s called.

Good one

This is a good book with great insights and curiosities about the brain. The book sometimes go off the trail of the brain and talk about other evolution topics, but at the end can reconnect to the main topic. The scientific info is very well explained and structured.

Excellent book

Well researched ad well delivered. Very interesting. I was gripped by this journey that too on us on the history of the human brain.

understanding where our brains came from

First, the narrator did a great job reading, making the book even more interesting.

A concise look at how we got our brains through evolution. Takes the latest known theories and discoveries to tell the interesting, fact based, story of how we humans got our brains.

The book tells us how we got here and alludes to where we may continue. Our understanding and manipulation of our DNA may well provide humans the next evolution of brain enhancement and development.

In 100 years we will know so much more!

Fascinating survey of the evolution of the human brain

Dr. Stetka did a wonderful job researching the topics for this fascinating and entertaining book. Based on the numerous quoted comments, it is clear that he went to great lengths to set up interviews and put extensive thought and time into the interviews. The writing and presentation is spectacularly engrossing and amusing. The only critique that I would venture falls into the editorial realm, probably involving the decision of the publisher. In a few instances in the early chapters, the term “genetic code” was used when “genome” was the appropriate term. (The Genetic Code is the language by which nucleic acid sequences are translated into protein; thus it is contained only within the highly conserved genes of tRNA and does not consist of the sequences that are transcribed into mRNA to be translated using that language)

Brilliant information

This book traces the origina of the human brain from the primordial soup to the future. It is a fascinating history and science read.

High level view

Good overview of brain evolution. Stetka's jokes fall a bit flat. I doubt if some of the statements will stand the test of time.