An Alchemy of Mind by Diane Ackerman

So I finally finished An Alchemy of Mind by Diane Ackerman, not because it wasn't so very interesting and readable, but because there was just so much wonderful and weird and hard-to-fathom information. The physical components of the brain already stop me cold with all of it's billions (or is it trillions?) of neurons and synapses. What kind of numbers are those anyway? It reminds me of that sort of blank wonder I feel when I read about the universe with all of its stars and planets and solar systems. And then you throw in the workings of our individual minds . . . Where do ideas come from? How is it that we can make connections? Learn? This author is like a really cool science teacher who loves talking about and sharing her wonder of the brain and mind.