Publishers Weekly
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.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
School Library Journal
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 Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
A science writer specializing in medicine, Fleischman tells how Gage, foreman of a railroad construction gang, survived an iron rod being blasted through his brain in 1848, and how the subsequent study of him contributed to the modern understanding of the central nervous system. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Kirkus Reviews
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)
From the Publisher
"Carefully separating fact from legend, Fleischman traces Gage's subsequent travels and subtle but profound personality changes." Kirkus Reviews, Starred
"Phineas Gage brings a scientific viewpoint to a topic that will be delightfully gruesome to many readers." School Library Journal
"The riveting topic will draw all kinds of readers, and they'll be fascinated even as they're educated." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Fleischman's bold, present-tense writing draws the reader into the story from the first sentence." Horn Book
"Fleischman is a fine science writer, and he has organized his book adroitly." Riverbank Review
"Science writer Fleischman uses a clipped, engaging expository style to tell this incredible story." Publishers Weekly —
