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Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Searching... Cabell County Public Library | 921 GAGE F | Juvenile | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... Milton Public Library | 921 GAGE F | Juvenile | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... Putnam Main Public Library | 921 GAGE F | Juvenile | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived to live another eleven years and become a textbook case in brain science.
At the time, Phineas Gage seemed to completely recover from his accident. He could walk, talk, work, and travel, but he was changed. Gage "was no longer Gage," said his Vermont doctor, meaning that the old Phineas was dependable and well liked, and the new Phineas was crude and unpredictable.
His case astonished doctors in his day and still fascinates doctors today. What happened and what didn't happen inside the brain of Phineas Gage will tell you a lot about how your brain works and how you act human.
Author Notes
John Fleischman uses his brain as a science writer with the American Society for Cell Biology and as a freelance writer for various magazines, including Discover, Muse, and Air & Space Smithsonian. He has been a science writer at the Harvard Medical School and a senior editor with Yankee and Ohio magazines. He lives in Ohio with his wife and a greyhound named Psyche.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up-The fascinating story of the construction foreman who survived for 10 years after a 13-pound iron rod shot through his brain. Fleischman relates Gage's "horrible accident" and the subsequent events in the present tense, giving immediacy to the text. He avoids sensationalizing by letting the events themselves carry the impact. The straightforward description of Gage calmly chatting on a porch 30 minutes after the accident, for example, comes across as horrifying and amazing. The author presents scientific background in a conversational style and jumps enthusiastically into such related topics as phrenology, 19th-century medical practices, and the history of microbiology. He shows how Gage's misfortune actually played an intriguing and important role in the development of our knowledge of the brain. The present-tense narrative may cause occasional confusion, since it spans several time periods and dates are not always immediately apparent from the text. Illustrations include historical photographs; one showing the iron bar posed dramatically next to Gage's skull is particularly impressive. Other photos and diagrams help explain the workings of the brain. The work of Gage expert Malcolm Macmillan, cited in the list of resources, seems the likely main source for the quotes and details of Gage's life, but this is not clearly spelled out in the text or appendixes. Like Penny Colman's Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts (Holt, 1997) and James M. Deem's Bodies from the Bog (Houghton, 1998), Phineas Gage brings a scientific viewpoint to a topic that will be delightfully gruesome to many readers.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Science writer John Fleischman uses a clipped, engaging expository style to tell the incredible story of the railroad worker who, in 1848, survived the piercing blast of a 13-pound iron rod as it entered below his cheekbone and exited the front of his skull in Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science. Photographs, glossary, a resource listing and index lend this textbook case the same sense of immediacy as do the words. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Middle School) In 1848, Phineas Gage, a twenty-six-year-old explosives expert, had an accident that should have killed him. His three-foot-long, spearlike tamping iron, accidentally igniting the blasting powder, shot thirty feet into the air after first passing through his head. Miraculously, Gage was able to walk around, talk lucidly about the accident, and even joke with his horrified doctor. Later, it became clear that his personality and ability to make sound judgments had been drastically changed. Gage became the central figure in a medical debate between two factions of scientists that lasted long after his death eleven years later. Both the phrenologists and the whole-brain theorists were convinced that Gage's survival and personality transformation proved their theories and negated those of the other party. In fact, both theories were mostly incorrect. John Fleischman's bold, present-tense writing draws the reader into the story from the first sentence: "The most unlucky/lucky moment in the life of Phineas Gage is only a minute or two away...[Soon] Phineas will have a horrible accident." The grisly cover photo of Gage's skull, a classy design, and large illustrations aid in captivating a younger audience (nine and up seems about right) who will likely be hooked by the story before Fleischman begins delving into the specifics of brain anatomy. While the text frequently addresses the reader directly ("Imagine you are inside Phineas's head"), the serious subject and the author's skill keep the writing from becoming jejune. What truly elevates this book beyond a blow-by-blow description of a ghastly event and its aftermath is the introduction of the idea that some scientists are zealots who are compelled to support their own theories even if it means remaining blind to new evidence. At the heart of the book is the revelation that while science is a discipline based on facts, these "facts" change, forcing the field to evolve and reinvent itself. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Gruesome indeed: in 1848, an explosion blew a 13-pound iron rod through railroad worker Gage's head. Not only did he survive, he never even lost consciousness, going on to become a medical marvel and to live almost another dozen years. Was Gage lucky, or just the opposite? Carefully separating fact from legend, Fleischman traces Gage's subsequent travels and subtle but profound personality changes, then lets readers decide. Writing in present tense, which sometimes adds immediacy, other times just comes across as artificial, Fleischman fleshes out the tale with looks at mid-19th-century medicine, the history of brain science, and how modern researchers have reconstructed Gage's accident with high-tech tools. He also adds eye-widening photos of Gage's actual skull (now at Harvard), his life mask, and dramatic rod-through-bone computer images that, as the author writes, will make you wince "whether you're a brain surgeon or a sixth grader." Readers compelled to know more-and that should be just about everyone-will find a helpful, annotated list of print and electronic sources at the end of this riveting (so to speak) study. (index, glossary) (Nonfiction. 11-13)
Booklist Review
Gr. 7-10. Railroad foreman and blasting expert Phineas Gage was hard at work in 1848 when an improperly prepared charge of gunpowder rocketed a three-foot-long iron rod through his brain. Bloodied and blackened, Gage remained coherent and surprisingly relaxed as he rode an oxcart back to town to get help. He survived the accident for nearly a dozen years, though his personality changed drastically: the once amiable man became crude and argumentative. The author combines this believe-it-or-not story with a history of brain research, including everything from phrenology to high-tech tools. The text is vivid, though curiosity seekers drawn in by the promise of a gruesome story will get bogged down in heavier sections on brain physiology and chemistry. The illustrations are well captioned but don't have enough visual interest to attract browsers for more than a moment. Report writers and science buffs will be the book's best audience. A glossary and an annotated bibliography help make this a terrific resource. --Randy Meyer
