Robert Sylwester offers educators an introduction to "the only mass of matter in the known universe that can contemplate itself," the human brain. We all know that the brain is where learning takes place, but how many of us understand the brain's basic workings and use that understanding in our work with students? How many of us keep up with new developments in brain research that might have implications for teaching and learning? How many of us can even identify the basic parts of the brain and when they mature?

After reading this book, you'll be able to identify the basic parts of the brain. You'll also be able to discuss scientists' theories about how our brain functions, how it interacts with the outside environment, how it determines what's important, how it solves problems, how it adapts itself to its environment, and how it learns, remembers, and forgets.

"A Celebration of Neurons" is more than an introduction to the brain, however; it is also an urgent call for educators to become actively involved in discovering useful applications for brain theory and research in the schools. Developments in brain research have already provided scientific support for educational practices such as cooperative learning, and new developments will almost certainly influence other aspects of teaching and learning, from the content of the curriculum to the layout of the classroom. The question we must ask ourselves now, says Sylwester, is whether the education profession as a whole can continue to ignore the significant role that brain research can play in improving teaching and learning.

In his own words, Sylwester wrote the book in order to provide "a functional understanding of these significant developments [in the cognitive sciences] to be able to comprehend the growing scientific and professional writing in this field; discuss, develop, and evaluate proposed educational applications; and effectively teach students about brain mechanisms and processes." In order to do this, Sylwester has researched well over 150 sources and concisely simplified and summarized them for easy understanding. The key difference between Celebration and other treatises on the cognitive sciences is in its direct application of its findings to educational theory, and to changes that can be made in order to better meet the educational needs of our students.

After a brief introduction and rationalization of his work in chapter one, Sylwester focuses each of his subsequent chapters upon six key issues in the cognitive sciences today. Chapter two illustrates the brain's construction on a cellular and systemic level. Here we see the organization of the brain and its basic physical and chemical functions. Chapter three explores the way in which the brain interacts with the world outside the skull through the senses and the motor system. Both of these chapters have little to offer in concrete suggestions for teaching, being intended instead to provide the information necessary to understand the later parts of the book.

In chapter four, Sylwester explains how the brain focuses on specific sensory information. Most intriguing is his focus on the role that emotion plays in making these critical decisions. While traditional educational theory has up to this point advocated the division between emotional and rational content, the author instead suggests that it is better to acknowledge that emotion is an inseparable part of attention and cannot be ignored, but rather must be worked through. To this end, he provides six guidelines by which educators can accommodate this as well as two others to reflect the biochemical and physiological functions of focusing attention.

Chapter five concerns itself with memory. After a brief introduction into the various types of memory, Sylwester explores the processes by which short-term information is either converted to long-term memories or forgotten. The most fascinating section of this chapter is the explanation of how memory is maintained and managed. Current research supports the theory that many of the activities in which humans engage, from sleep and dreaming to watching television to telling stories and even engaging in conversation, are primarily designed to promote the reinforcement and refinement of memories gained during more active periods. Education, too, is part of this process, to bring in and to maintain cultural memories (which Sylwester terms formal societal memories) that we want to pass on to our progeny.

Chapter six explores the most complex quality of the human brain - its problem-solving capabilities. The pathways and processes used in the cortex are covered, as are new theories about multiple intelligences and brain specialization for specific cognitive tasks. But Sylwester also goes beyond the simple biological mechanics and psychological conveyances of the process to go beyond the brain. He explicitly makes reference to three other problem-solving stratagems that human brains use. They "borrow" other brains by cooperating with other people, they increase their capacities through technologies such as telescopes and computers, and finally, altering the brain's function through outside chemical substances. Chapter seven is in many ways a brief supplement to this latter part of chapter six - explaining how the brain reacts to its environment.

The major strength of this work is its relative accessibility. To paraphrase an old cliché, it may be about recent findings in neuroscience, but one does not have to be a brain surgeon to understand it. Through a mixture of explanations, analogies, and clear diagrams, Sylwester seemingly effortlessly takes us through this complex maze. Despite this simplicity, Sylwester does provide a comprehensive survey of the subject, covering all the main ideas and facts necessary for people who work with brains as an abstract construct. Furthermore, Sylwester never forgets that his intended audience is made up of educators and conscientiously links the information he provides with potential applications for it in the classroom.

The one mistake that Sylwester does make, however, is his use of various shifting models in his explanations. On one page, the brain is an extensive library. On another it is a rich, jungle ecosystem. The use of the shifting and inaccurate analogies tends to confuse the reader and work against its otherwise exemplary level of clarity. Even Sylwester himself warns of the dangers of using such models extensively, pointing out that the brain and nervous system is a dynamic and self-maintaining system, while most analogies presented are static and require outside management. Another important caveat about this particular book is that neuroscience is now advancing at an incredible rate - even in the five years since its original publication, Celebration is beginning to become outdated.

Overall, however, this book will prove invaluable not only to educators (although they will be able to make better use of the suggestions provided) but to anybody with a vested interest in learning. As long as the brain is the central medium through which every child and adult acquire, process, and maintain information, we are best served by tailoring such acquisition, procedure, and maintenance to the processes by which this remarkable organ functions. Without any doubt, Celebration will provide you with a practicable, if not intimate, knowledge of those processes.

5 of 6 found the following review helpful:


A Celebration of Neurons, by Robert Sylwester,  Aug 09, 1997 By Al Mcleod "esalen lover"
Robert Sylwester's much overlooked book, A Celebration of Neurons, gives you a set of polished tools easily used in exploring the plumbing of your own brain. If you've ever, ever wondered how you create those amazing ideas you do, this book is a must. Sylwester draws on the outstanding research on brain neurochemistry, exploring different models, and leading us on an exhilarating tour of the pipes and fluids of our brains. And it is written in easy to understand language, yielding a schemata of the brain that is equal to anything Carl "cosmos" Sagan did in helping us image outer space....only here we take the deep dive into the bubbling fluids of our own crainiums. As I read it I could hear easily hear my own neurotransmitters firing, feel the delight of my dancing synapses, and feel a "hundred things" I had not dreamed of. A must read for anyone who thinks....and especially for educators, psychopests and others in the tinkering trades

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:


Cognition in Education Intro: Well worth it  Nov 16, 2010 By Stephen Pellerine
A great first book for educators interested in Cognition. The book, for me, is or sure worthy of reading as it does address a lot of concepts that will be new to someone with limited exposure to the cognitive sciences - and it frames discussions in light of education/classroom practices.

I also think, considering the price ($3-6) it is well worth the purchase and can indeed be used as a reference for undergrad and perhaps MA level students developing knowledge in this area.

It looks at collaborative learning Gardner's MI theory and it approaches applications to pedagogy at many levels. Buy it, along with a couple others and it will be the wonderful beginning of a new genre on your bookshelf.



22 of 39 found the following review helpful:


The Author is Out of His Depth  May 18, 1999
A quick glance at the length of the bibliography makes it clear that this thin volume has little to do with the many "sources" listed. Like a middle schooler trying to impress a teacher on a research paper, the author lists books and articles that cover such a breathtaking range of the neurosciences that there is simply nobody who could write such a brief summary and use even a small part of each of them. My guess is, he has not read most of them. There are several examples of sources cited to support points which those sources do not, in fact, support - and may even refute. But this is the way with so many educators who claim to be using "brain research" as a basis for so many silly classroom concepts: start with the teaching method or curriculum, and selectively pick out parts of research that appears to support it. That's not scientific, and neither is this book. Rather than even try to support the notion that the research can actually be used in this way, Sylwester simply accepts that shaky premise, and goes on with the lesson. Credit his honesty, though. From the start, Sylwester makes clear that he does not believe most educators understand the cognitive neurosciences well enough to apply the research. Unfortunately, if they wish to read a single volume to expand their scientific understanding, this book isn't it.

1 of 4 found the following review helpful:


Your Owner's Manual  May 14, 1999
If you have a brain, you need this book. This entertainingly informative approach to explaining the brain's care and mantainance is easy to understand and engrossing. It explains everything from how you dream to how you pick up a pencil off of the floor. Environment and diet are addressed as well as the growth process and some diseases. At times, I did have to set the book aside to contemplate what I was learning, but it was easy to digest (a process which is also outlined in the book).