Book description
The imperative to 'know thyself' is both fundamental and profoundly
elusive - for how can we ever truly comprehend the drama and complexity
of the human experience?
In 'Why Us?' James Le Fanu offers a fascinating exploration of the
power and limits of science to penetrate the deep mysteries of our
existence, challenging the certainty that has persisted since Charles
Darwin's Origin of Species that we are no more than the fortuitous
consequence of a materialist evolutionary process.
That challenge arises, unexpectedly, from the two major projects that
promised to provide definitive proof for this most influential of
scientific theories. The first is the astonishing achievement of the
Human Genome Project, which, it was anticipated, would identify the
genetic basis of those characteristics that distinguish humans from
their primate cousins. The second is the phenomenal advance in brain
imaging that now permits neuroscientists to observe the brain 'in
action' and thus account for the remarkable properties of the human mind.
But that is not how it has turned out. It is simply not possible to get
from the monotonous sequence of genes along the Double Helix to the near
infinite diversity of the living world, nor to translate the electrical
firing of the brain into the creativity of the human mind. This is not a
matter of not knowing all the facts. Rather, science has inadvertently
discovered that its theories are insufficient to conjure the wonder of
the human experience from the bare bones of our genes and brains.
We stand on the brink of a tectonic shift in our understanding of
ourselves that will witness the rediscovery of the central premise of
Western philosophy that there is 'more than we can know'. Lucid,
compelling and utterly engaging, 'Why Us?' offers a convincing and
provocative vision of the new science of being human. From the reviews
of “The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine” (Little, Brown, 1999)
'Erudite, absorbing… Le Fanu writes with clarity and authority and has
the knack of making even the most complex developments exciting and
enjoyable' SIR ROY PORTER, Observer
'This excellent book has challenged many of my views' DAVID OWEN, Spectator
'Endlessly fascinating' Financial Times
'As lucid as it is comprehensive… fascinating' THOMAS STUTTAFORD,
Literary Review James Le Fanu is a medical doctor and a regular
columnist for the Sunday and Daily Telegraph. He graduated from
Cambridge University and the Royal London Hospital in 1974. He has
published research articles in the 'British Medical Journal', 'Lancet'
and the 'Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine'.
