Michael Gazzaniga: A Life in Neuroscience

A Co-Presentation from the Greater Good Science Center and Berkeley Arts and Letters


  • Venue: Hillside Club, Berkeley, CA
  • Date: February 11, 2015
  • Time: 7:30 pm
  • Price: $8-$15

More than fifty years ago, Michael S. Gazzaniga was in the middle of the most important observation in all of neuroscience--the now foundational theory that the right and left hemispheres of the brain can act independently from one another and have different strengths. Hailed "the father of cognitive neuroscience," Gazzaniga's work is renowned for its wit and accessibility, as well as its scientific elegance, and has inspired some of the most important minds in the field including Steven Pinker, Oliver Sacks and V.S. Ramachandran.   


Now, for the first time in his new book, Tales from Both Sides of the Brain, Gazzaniga looks back over the evolution of an idea, and the incredible characters from famous scientists to split-brain patients, and to many curious souls along the way (comedian Steve Allen, William F. Buckley and other non-scientists) who have accompanied him on the road of intellectual discovery.  Part field guide, part memoir, this unprecedented work describes a life in science that has exemplified the epitome of collaboration and networking to move the science forward.

Gazzaniga will be in conversation with the GGSC's science director, Emiliana Simon-Thomas.