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The Enchanted Loom
S/t: Mind in the Universe
The evolution of life & the development of the human mind. The title is from the 1937–38 Gifford Lectures by Charles Sherrington: "It is as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance. Swiftly the head mass becomes an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns." Jastrow "shows us the latest breakthroughs in astronomy, biology, & the brain sciences, & explains how these scientific discoveries have given us a new view of man..."
The evolution of life & the development of the human mind. The title is from the 1937–38 Gifford Lectures by Charles Sherrington: "It is as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance. Swiftly the head mass becomes an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns." Jastrow "shows us the latest breakthroughs in astronomy, biology, & the brain sciences, & explains how these scientific discoveries have given us a new view of man..."
- GenresScienceNonfiction
185 pages, Hardcover
First published November 20, 1981
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78 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 26, 2018
A book very clear and easy to read, mainly about the evolution of the brain from fish to homo sapiens,it undelines the fact that a fundamental jump in the evolution of the inteligence was the transformation of the olfative brain of the mammals into the brain cortex,also explains the visual proccessing images by the brain and that we have a sort of two brains the reptilian brain where is the conservation,sexual,search of food,agressivity instict and over this is the cortex brain where is the abstraction,the planification,the analysis etc..; normally the cortex brain is in charge but not ever as for example in panic situations.
Yet it is a book of near 40 years old, in the fundamental has not aged but it have aged in some subjects as the explanation of the extiction of the dinosaurs and when comparing the working of our brain and a computer the very optimist prophecy that in 1995 the artificial inteligence of a computer will surpass the human ,that we now know is wholly wrong.
In my opinión a human brain is much more that a calculating machine,I surely am wrong but for me in a computer the neuron is a transistor conected to other few transistors, but in a real brain the neuron is a sort of little processor conected to thousands of other little processors and we have 10000000000 little processors, each one extremely complex and our thougths and consciousness are so extremely complex nets of electrical and chemical signals or in words of the autor a enchanted loom.
In spite this, a interesting informative book worth of reading.
Yet it is a book of near 40 years old, in the fundamental has not aged but it have aged in some subjects as the explanation of the extiction of the dinosaurs and when comparing the working of our brain and a computer the very optimist prophecy that in 1995 the artificial inteligence of a computer will surpass the human ,that we now know is wholly wrong.
In my opinión a human brain is much more that a calculating machine,I surely am wrong but for me in a computer the neuron is a transistor conected to other few transistors, but in a real brain the neuron is a sort of little processor conected to thousands of other little processors and we have 10000000000 little processors, each one extremely complex and our thougths and consciousness are so extremely complex nets of electrical and chemical signals or in words of the autor a enchanted loom.
In spite this, a interesting informative book worth of reading.
October 20, 2010
This was my second time reading it (the first time I gave it Five Stars, meaning I "loved it"), and although still very readable, it doesn't go into the detail I remember. I suppose I thought so fondly of it because it was tackling the big issues, the mind consciousness, the next leap forward. However looking back, I sense that I was projecting other material and thoughts onto his copy.
So on to THIS book: a basic primer through the evolution on our planet towards the development of the brain. I would recommend it.
"Flexible behavior is the essence of intelligence."
--Robert Jastrow
So on to THIS book: a basic primer through the evolution on our planet towards the development of the brain. I would recommend it.
"Flexible behavior is the essence of intelligence."
--Robert Jastrow
October 16, 2008
I give it a three because it's pretty dated now. It's a good read. Jastrow has a knack for making scientific concepts approachable for a reasonably intelligent layperson.
July 27, 2024
Un libro para entender cosas, habla del cerebro, la vida y plantea preguntas para el futuro, hay cosas que no han envejecido tan bien pero fue un gusto total leerlo, un deleite para la curiosidad.
November 7, 2025
THE THIRD BOOK IN HIS TRILOGY
Robert Jastrow (1925-2008) was an American astronomer, physicist and cosmologist. He wrote many popular books, such as ‘God and the Astronomers,’ 'Red Giants and White Dwarfs,' 'Until the Sun Dies,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface of this 1981 book, “This book is the third volume in a trilogy following ‘Red Giants and White Dwarfs’ and ‘Until the Sun Dies.’… [This] book takes up where ‘Until the Sun Dies’ left off. It recaps the astronomical setting and the early history of life in the first chapter; then it focuses on intelligence and the brain; how the brain evolved, the way it works, how it balances instinct and reason, what it is evolving into… [If] trends in computer evolution continue… [And if] it became possible to wire those circuits so that they worked in the same way as the circuits in the brain, man would be able to create a thinking organism of quasi-human power---a new form of intelligent life.”
He said in the first chapter, “Astronomers have been working on bits and pieces of this remarkable story for years, little dreaming that they were making contributions to a new and updated version of the Book of Genesis. Many details of the scientific account differ from those in the Bible; in particular, the age of the Universe appears to be far greater than the 6000 years of the Biblical Genesis; but the essential feature is the same in both stories: There was a Beginning, and all things in the Universe can be traced back to it.” (Pg. 16)
He asserts, “According to the fossil record, simple kinds of life appeared on the earth at some point during the first billion years of its existence. Where did these living organisms come from? Since the earth’s surface was too hot to bear life at the start, this life must have appeared on our planet later. Either it was placed here by the Creator, or it evolved out of nonliving molecules in accordance with the laws of chemistry and physics. There is no third way; it must have been one or the other.” (Pg. 19)
Turning to brain/mind issues, he explains, “The reason why brain size alone may be misleading is that a part of every animal’s brain is used for the control of its body. This section of the brain is filled with circuits that are connected up in a kind of telephone switching exchange, receiving signals from the body and sending out messages in return. The larger the body, the larger the part of the brain that must be used for this purpose. Nearly all the available space in the dinosaur’s small brain was taken up with circuits for control of its huge body; there was little room for memory, or planning, or learning by experience in that brain. But the mammal’s brain, large in proportion to its body, had grey matter available for the storage of memories and for thinking, planning, and a flexible response to changing conditions. The small but relatively brainy mammal must have possessed these mental traits to a far greater degree than its brawny dinosaur contemporaries.” (Pg. 49)
He states, “there is the question of the creative power in evolution. According to Darwin, that power lies in nature, but what is nature? Darwin based his theory of evolution on artificial selection… There, man does the selecting, who does the selecting in evolution? And finally, there is the role of chance. If Darwin was correct , man has arisen on the earth as the product of a succession of chance events occurring during the last four billion years. Can that be true? Is it possible that man, with his remarkable powers of intellect and spirit, have been formed from the dust of the earth by chance alone? It is hard to accept … the evolution of human intelligence as the product of random disruptions in the brain cells of our ancestors. Darwin himself was uncertain about the matter. ‘My theology is a simple muddle,’ he wrote. ‘I cannot look at the universe as the result of blind chance, yet I see no evidence of beneficent design in the details.’’ (Pg. 98-100)
He continues, “My own views on this question remain agnostic, and close to those of Darwin. The theory of evolution seems complete; it seems to require no forces beyond the forces known to science. Yet, when you study the history of life, and step back to look at the long history with the perspective of several hundred million years, you see a flow and direction in it---from the simple to the complex, from lower forms to higher, and always toward higher intelligence---and you wonder: Can this history of events leading to man, with its clear direction, yet be undirected? Scientists tend to feel that they know the answer to that question, but their confidence in the completeness of their knowledge may not be justified.” (Pg. 100)
He goes on, “The fact of evolution is not in doubt. Whether this long process, culminating in man, is the expression of a plan or purpose in the Universe seems to me to be a question beyond the reach of human understanding, or at least beyond the reach of science. Scientists have an interesting story to tell about the flow of events leading from the creation of man, but, as with questions of beginning and end in the Universe, to these larger questions of plan and purpose, science has no answer.” (Pg. 101)
He notes, “experiments indicate that states of anger and aggression are created by electrical signals originating in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus behaves as though it contains a gate that can open to let out a display of anger or bad temper… It is as if two mentalities resided in the same body. One mentality is ruled by emotional states that have evolved as apart of age-old programs for survival, and the seat of this mentality is in the old-mammal centers of the brain, beneath the cerebral cortex.” (Pg. 132)
He asserts, “Computers do not have DNA molecules; they are not biological organisms; and Darwin’s theory of evolution does not apply to them. We are the reproductive organs of the computer. We create new generations of computers, one after another. The computer designer tacks on a piece here, and lops off a piece there, and makes major improvements in one computer generation. This kind of evolution, as the short history of computers has already shown, can proceed at a dizzying pace. It is the kind of evolution that Lamarck---the 18th century evolutionist---envisioned. Lamarckian evolution turned out to be wrong for flesh-and-blood creatures, but right for computers.” (Pg. 164-165)
He continues, “Now we see why the brain will never catch up to the rapidly-evolving computer. At the end of the century, the two forms of intelligence will be working together. What about the next century?... a thought strikes us. Perhaps man can join forces with the computer to create a brain that combines the accumulated wisdom of the human mind with the power of the machine… This hybrid intelligence would be the progenitor of a new race, that would start at the human level of achievement and go on from there. It would not be an end, but a beginning.” (Pg. 165)
He adds, “When the brain sciences reach this point, a bold scientist will be able to tap the contents of his mind and transfer them into the metallic lattices of a computer. Because mind is the essence of being, it can be said that this scientist has entered the computer, and that he now dwells in it. At last the human brain, ensconced in a computer, has been liberated from the weaknesses of the mortal flesh. Connected to cameras, instruments and engine controls, the brain sees, feels, and responds to stimuli. It is in control of its own destiny. The machine is its body; it is the machine’s mind. The union of mind and machine has created a new form of existence, as well designed for life in the future as man is designed for life on the African savannah.” (Pg. 166)
He goes on, “It seems to me that this must be the mature form of intelligent life in the Universe. Housed in indestructible lattices of silicon, and no longer constrained in the span of its year by the life and death cycle of a biological organism, such a kind of life could live forever. It would be the kind of life that could leave its parent planet to roam the space between the stars. Man as we know him will never make that trip, for the passage takes a million years. But the artificial brain, sealed within the protective hull of a star ship, and nourished by electricity collected by starlight, could last a million years or more. For a brain living in a computer, the voyage to another star would present no problems.” (Pg. 167)
This book (though admittedly more than 40 years old) will interest those who enjoy scientific speculations.
Robert Jastrow (1925-2008) was an American astronomer, physicist and cosmologist. He wrote many popular books, such as ‘God and the Astronomers,’ 'Red Giants and White Dwarfs,' 'Until the Sun Dies,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface of this 1981 book, “This book is the third volume in a trilogy following ‘Red Giants and White Dwarfs’ and ‘Until the Sun Dies.’… [This] book takes up where ‘Until the Sun Dies’ left off. It recaps the astronomical setting and the early history of life in the first chapter; then it focuses on intelligence and the brain; how the brain evolved, the way it works, how it balances instinct and reason, what it is evolving into… [If] trends in computer evolution continue… [And if] it became possible to wire those circuits so that they worked in the same way as the circuits in the brain, man would be able to create a thinking organism of quasi-human power---a new form of intelligent life.”
He said in the first chapter, “Astronomers have been working on bits and pieces of this remarkable story for years, little dreaming that they were making contributions to a new and updated version of the Book of Genesis. Many details of the scientific account differ from those in the Bible; in particular, the age of the Universe appears to be far greater than the 6000 years of the Biblical Genesis; but the essential feature is the same in both stories: There was a Beginning, and all things in the Universe can be traced back to it.” (Pg. 16)
He asserts, “According to the fossil record, simple kinds of life appeared on the earth at some point during the first billion years of its existence. Where did these living organisms come from? Since the earth’s surface was too hot to bear life at the start, this life must have appeared on our planet later. Either it was placed here by the Creator, or it evolved out of nonliving molecules in accordance with the laws of chemistry and physics. There is no third way; it must have been one or the other.” (Pg. 19)
Turning to brain/mind issues, he explains, “The reason why brain size alone may be misleading is that a part of every animal’s brain is used for the control of its body. This section of the brain is filled with circuits that are connected up in a kind of telephone switching exchange, receiving signals from the body and sending out messages in return. The larger the body, the larger the part of the brain that must be used for this purpose. Nearly all the available space in the dinosaur’s small brain was taken up with circuits for control of its huge body; there was little room for memory, or planning, or learning by experience in that brain. But the mammal’s brain, large in proportion to its body, had grey matter available for the storage of memories and for thinking, planning, and a flexible response to changing conditions. The small but relatively brainy mammal must have possessed these mental traits to a far greater degree than its brawny dinosaur contemporaries.” (Pg. 49)
He states, “there is the question of the creative power in evolution. According to Darwin, that power lies in nature, but what is nature? Darwin based his theory of evolution on artificial selection… There, man does the selecting, who does the selecting in evolution? And finally, there is the role of chance. If Darwin was correct , man has arisen on the earth as the product of a succession of chance events occurring during the last four billion years. Can that be true? Is it possible that man, with his remarkable powers of intellect and spirit, have been formed from the dust of the earth by chance alone? It is hard to accept … the evolution of human intelligence as the product of random disruptions in the brain cells of our ancestors. Darwin himself was uncertain about the matter. ‘My theology is a simple muddle,’ he wrote. ‘I cannot look at the universe as the result of blind chance, yet I see no evidence of beneficent design in the details.’’ (Pg. 98-100)
He continues, “My own views on this question remain agnostic, and close to those of Darwin. The theory of evolution seems complete; it seems to require no forces beyond the forces known to science. Yet, when you study the history of life, and step back to look at the long history with the perspective of several hundred million years, you see a flow and direction in it---from the simple to the complex, from lower forms to higher, and always toward higher intelligence---and you wonder: Can this history of events leading to man, with its clear direction, yet be undirected? Scientists tend to feel that they know the answer to that question, but their confidence in the completeness of their knowledge may not be justified.” (Pg. 100)
He goes on, “The fact of evolution is not in doubt. Whether this long process, culminating in man, is the expression of a plan or purpose in the Universe seems to me to be a question beyond the reach of human understanding, or at least beyond the reach of science. Scientists have an interesting story to tell about the flow of events leading from the creation of man, but, as with questions of beginning and end in the Universe, to these larger questions of plan and purpose, science has no answer.” (Pg. 101)
He notes, “experiments indicate that states of anger and aggression are created by electrical signals originating in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus behaves as though it contains a gate that can open to let out a display of anger or bad temper… It is as if two mentalities resided in the same body. One mentality is ruled by emotional states that have evolved as apart of age-old programs for survival, and the seat of this mentality is in the old-mammal centers of the brain, beneath the cerebral cortex.” (Pg. 132)
He asserts, “Computers do not have DNA molecules; they are not biological organisms; and Darwin’s theory of evolution does not apply to them. We are the reproductive organs of the computer. We create new generations of computers, one after another. The computer designer tacks on a piece here, and lops off a piece there, and makes major improvements in one computer generation. This kind of evolution, as the short history of computers has already shown, can proceed at a dizzying pace. It is the kind of evolution that Lamarck---the 18th century evolutionist---envisioned. Lamarckian evolution turned out to be wrong for flesh-and-blood creatures, but right for computers.” (Pg. 164-165)
He continues, “Now we see why the brain will never catch up to the rapidly-evolving computer. At the end of the century, the two forms of intelligence will be working together. What about the next century?... a thought strikes us. Perhaps man can join forces with the computer to create a brain that combines the accumulated wisdom of the human mind with the power of the machine… This hybrid intelligence would be the progenitor of a new race, that would start at the human level of achievement and go on from there. It would not be an end, but a beginning.” (Pg. 165)
He adds, “When the brain sciences reach this point, a bold scientist will be able to tap the contents of his mind and transfer them into the metallic lattices of a computer. Because mind is the essence of being, it can be said that this scientist has entered the computer, and that he now dwells in it. At last the human brain, ensconced in a computer, has been liberated from the weaknesses of the mortal flesh. Connected to cameras, instruments and engine controls, the brain sees, feels, and responds to stimuli. It is in control of its own destiny. The machine is its body; it is the machine’s mind. The union of mind and machine has created a new form of existence, as well designed for life in the future as man is designed for life on the African savannah.” (Pg. 166)
He goes on, “It seems to me that this must be the mature form of intelligent life in the Universe. Housed in indestructible lattices of silicon, and no longer constrained in the span of its year by the life and death cycle of a biological organism, such a kind of life could live forever. It would be the kind of life that could leave its parent planet to roam the space between the stars. Man as we know him will never make that trip, for the passage takes a million years. But the artificial brain, sealed within the protective hull of a star ship, and nourished by electricity collected by starlight, could last a million years or more. For a brain living in a computer, the voyage to another star would present no problems.” (Pg. 167)
This book (though admittedly more than 40 years old) will interest those who enjoy scientific speculations.
August 24, 2020
Cyberpunk seriously. Cuando leí por primera vez este libro de divulgación científica, quedé anonadado por el alcance de su propuesta.
Tres décadas más tarde, la tecnología ha avanzado -se ha comprimido en tamaño y consumo de energía, y ha crecido exponencialmente en capacidades computacionales. Ya no sé por qué generación van, le perdí el rastro con la pentium; dicho sea de paso escribo ésta reseña en una lenovo ThinkPad ultrabook core i7 con licencia vencida de windows7; si sirve de algo. Ah, y mi fiel iphone 5 ha perecido.
Jastrow, muy didácticamente, nos explica el tránsito desde el origen del universo hacia la inteligencia humana, pasando por la evolución primordial en peces, reptiles y mamíferos; al tiempo que enfoca su argumento en la evolución del cerebro animal y el desarrollo de la inteligencia empezando por el cerebro olfativo.
Acto seguido viene la sección más interesante, en la que el autor se explaya en la evolución de las computadoras, sus mecanismos de procesamiento de información, y hace la analogía de las compuertas Y y O con el funcionamiento del cerebro humano y sus respuestas a escenarios de riesgo. Luego se ilusiona con el Silicio, elemento químico del grupo del Carbono que sería la clave para el siguiente paso de la evolución humana.
Me parece que los futuros escenarios han sido mejor explorados por el subgénero Cyberpunk de la ciencia ficción, tanto en literatura como en cine y televisión, con las siguientes variantes:
- El cerebro y el sistema nervioso son integrados con nanocomponentes cibernéticos. William Gibson en Neuromancer.
- El contenido mental del cerebro puede ser descargado en un dispositivo de hardware, almacenado y recargado. Richard Morgan en Altered Carbon (libro y serie). The 100 (la serie) describe una mutación sanguínea resistente a la radiación para instalar un chip de memoria acumuladora de otras vidas.
- La IA se desarrolla por su cuenta y compite con la inteligencia humana. Asimov's Robots, la Matrix de los Wachowski, Terminator, etc.
En todo caso, Jastrow estaba esperanzado en el Silicio (tetravalente como el C), sin considerar otros materiales para la fabricación de microcircuitos, aunque -en su defensa- aún no se habían desarrollado ni divulgado en ese entonces.
Retador futuro, limitado inevitablemente por la rentabilidad de los medios de producción.
Tres décadas más tarde, la tecnología ha avanzado -se ha comprimido en tamaño y consumo de energía, y ha crecido exponencialmente en capacidades computacionales. Ya no sé por qué generación van, le perdí el rastro con la pentium; dicho sea de paso escribo ésta reseña en una lenovo ThinkPad ultrabook core i7 con licencia vencida de windows7; si sirve de algo. Ah, y mi fiel iphone 5 ha perecido.
Jastrow, muy didácticamente, nos explica el tránsito desde el origen del universo hacia la inteligencia humana, pasando por la evolución primordial en peces, reptiles y mamíferos; al tiempo que enfoca su argumento en la evolución del cerebro animal y el desarrollo de la inteligencia empezando por el cerebro olfativo.
Acto seguido viene la sección más interesante, en la que el autor se explaya en la evolución de las computadoras, sus mecanismos de procesamiento de información, y hace la analogía de las compuertas Y y O con el funcionamiento del cerebro humano y sus respuestas a escenarios de riesgo. Luego se ilusiona con el Silicio, elemento químico del grupo del Carbono que sería la clave para el siguiente paso de la evolución humana.
Me parece que los futuros escenarios han sido mejor explorados por el subgénero Cyberpunk de la ciencia ficción, tanto en literatura como en cine y televisión, con las siguientes variantes:
- El cerebro y el sistema nervioso son integrados con nanocomponentes cibernéticos. William Gibson en Neuromancer.
- El contenido mental del cerebro puede ser descargado en un dispositivo de hardware, almacenado y recargado. Richard Morgan en Altered Carbon (libro y serie). The 100 (la serie) describe una mutación sanguínea resistente a la radiación para instalar un chip de memoria acumuladora de otras vidas.
- La IA se desarrolla por su cuenta y compite con la inteligencia humana. Asimov's Robots, la Matrix de los Wachowski, Terminator, etc.
En todo caso, Jastrow estaba esperanzado en el Silicio (tetravalente como el C), sin considerar otros materiales para la fabricación de microcircuitos, aunque -en su defensa- aún no se habían desarrollado ni divulgado en ese entonces.
Retador futuro, limitado inevitablemente por la rentabilidad de los medios de producción.
November 16, 2017
dated; cursory.
January 9, 2023
Me gustó
March 6, 2023
Es curioso conocer un poco de la historia de el cerebro.
January 13, 2025
One of the most lucid introductions to evolutionary devlopment of intellence. Short and crisp. Pair it with “A Brief History of Intelligence” (read Jastrow first!).
March 11, 2015
I obtained and read this because I'd been impressed by reading his Red Giants and White Dwarfs years before. This, a survey of contemporary evolutionary theory as it relates to the development of the human brain and nervous system, was not so impressive.
April 24, 2015
Me gustó mucho. Una explicación detallada pero al mismo tiempo simple sobre la evolución del cerebro. Me gustó mucho la parte del antepasado reptil que compartía rasgos de mamíferos me gustó la explicación del cerebro primitivo dentro del cerebro actual.
February 15, 2015
De los primeros libros que lei sobre el cerebro.
May 16, 2015
Interesting, but dated, especially in the closing chapters describing artificial intelligence.
January 27, 2017
Outdated, but very easy to read.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews