Academics

When I was thinking of the prompt of this journal, the first thing that came to mind was prosthetic limbs. I would have to say that the idea of prosthetic limbs, as the title of the journal indicates, is advancing science in the most interesting way. I immediately started looking for books to read for my feature article and the most interesting one was definitely “Rewired” by Dr. Ajan K. Seth, as it was published quite recently in 2019. I really enjoyed reading this book even with all of the twists and turns throughout it. This article is going to serve as a reason as to why you should read this book and, dare I say, why you need to read this book (if you are interested in neuroscience).  

Right off the bat, the book starts off with the racoon attack that leads to Melissa needing a prosthetic limb. Throughout the book, Dr. Seth (the writer) gives us, the reader, interesting little snapshots of the story. At no point did I feel like the story was dragging on or did I feel as if anything was fluff. In the short little chapters (roughly 3-5 pages each), everything made sense which made it a somewhat easy read. I also thought the way the parts of the book were crafted were ultimately to perfection.  I felt every emotion that both Melissa and her physician, Dr. Seth, felt. I would have to say that my absolute favorite part of the book would have to either be part 4 or part 5. Part 4 involves anecdotes leading up to the surgery and part 5 deals with everything involving the prosthesis. Since these two parts are my favorites in the whole book, I am going to go more in depth into those chapters that really interest me.  

The most fascinating chapter in part 4 of “Rewired” would have to be “The World in Our Hands” (43). The reason why I find this chapter the most interesting is because of the fact that it goes more into the philosophy of how we all use our hands. One of my all-time favorite classes at LFC has to be Neurophilosophy (I’d take it if I were you), so I naturally love the combination of those two fields in this chapter. The line that I think is the most interesting in this chapter has to be along the lines of realizing the importance (and significance) of having two hands especially if you lose both of them or even just one hand (143). It is a true statement though, as I have no clue what it is like losing a limb. I can only imagine how incredibly scary, tiring, and sad it would be to lose a limb, but I don’t know how that feels. The reason why I love that line in the book so much is because it really lets you evaluate your life and how much your hands are taken for granted. Like right now, I’m typing this article out, but I don’t know how it would be trying to do this without an arm or fingers. It’s a philosophical question or concern that is definitely worth examining for the greater good of society. 

Now moving on to the most fascinating chapter in part 5 of “Rewired” has to be “What Just Happened?” (195). This is honestly such an awe-inspiring moment in the book, as it is the moment that Melissa first felt her thumb after the amputation which meant that a prosthesis can be made to allow her to move and feel her hand. Honestly, I cannot pick out one particular line that struck me out of all the magnificent lines in this chapter. This entire chapter has more to do with the amazement I have towards neuroscience and orthopedics more than anything. I truly believe that Dr. Seth was able to perform a miracle for Melissa in being able to bring sensation back into her arm so that she can get the prosthesis. The fact that Melissa was able to feel the sensation in her thumb, but not on her thumb perse is quite remarkable.  

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who would want to learn more about prosthetics or anyone who is fascinated in the combination of neuroscience and philosophy. In terms of rating this amazing book, I would definitely have to give it a 10/10 for amazement and a 9.5/10 overall. The reason why I would give it a 9.5/10 overall is because of the fact that the chapters are a little too short, but it does not ruin it for me, not one bit. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and examining the philosophical points throughout it. The reason why I did not go too much into the actual story in this review is because I feel like reading  this book is way better when you do not know anything about it beforehand.

Works Cited:

Seth, A. K. (2019). Rewired. W. Publishing Group.