Humanity's quest to understand the brain has led to major discoveries in science and medicine. In his fascinating book, science popularizer Matthew Cobb reveals just how rocky the journey has been, as the road to the high-tech present was littered with cranks who performed unnecessary or cruel experiments. The book is divided into three parts, “Past,” “Present,” and “Future.” in which the author talks about the terrible experiments of innovative scientists on people in order to understand the structure and functions of the most mysterious organ. The first part describes a period since ancient times when the heart (rather than the brain) was considered the source of thoughts and emotions. In the second, the author tells us that today almost all scientific research and development is controlled by private companies, and explains to us why this is dangerous. In the final part, Matthew Cobb speculates in which direction researchers will move in the near future. After all, despite incredible scientific breakthroughs, we still have only a vague understanding of how the brain works.