Sidarta Ribeiro (Author)
SIDARTA RIBEIRO is the founder and first director of the Brain
Institute of Federal University or Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil,
where he currently is Professor of Neuroscience. He received a Ph.D
in Animal Behavior from Rockefeller University. His research topics
encompass memory, sleep and dreams, neuroplasticity, symbolic
competence in in non-human animals, computational psychiatry, and
psychedelics.
The Oracle of Night makes a resounding case for the mystery, beauty
and cognitive importance of dreams. Ribeiro marshals prodigious
evidence to bolster his case . . . This book is the culmination of
decades of thought and collaborative work. It's also the expression
of remarkable, if sometimes all-over-the-map, scholarship, drawing
on history, literature, biology, anthropology, neuroscience,
sociology and psychology, among other disciplines . . . His lyrical
account is aided by Daniel Hahn's beautiful translation from the
Portuguese . . . Delightful . . . You can't help being awed and
enchanted by the wonder with which Ribeiro approaches his subject,
by the depth of his knowledge and passion.
*The New York Times*
A comprehensive consideration of the sleeping mind . . . [Ribeiro]
offers a capacious examination of the phenomenon of dreaming. The
author draws on biology, chemistry, neurophysiology, anthropology,
mythology, history, literature, biography, and art-along with
myriad examples of dream narratives-to create a rich history of the
human mind . . . A stimulating and informative overview.
*Kirkus*
[Ribeiro] explores hypotheses about the evolutionary value of sleep
to humans, presenting a fascinating analysis of the debate about
the relationship between sleep and cognitive ability . . .
concluding, among other things, that nap rooms would be a valuable
addition to school environments.
*Publishers Weekly*
A groundbreaking history of the human mind told through our
experience of dreams-from the earliest accounts to current
scientific findings-and the essential role of dreams in the
formation of who we are and the world we have made.
*Next Big Idea Club*
"A sweeping account as tangled and chaotic-and fascinating-as the
dreams themselves . . . It reinfuses the dreamscape with beauty,
mystery and significance . . . The Oracle of Night takes a
breakneck journey through history, from cave paintings and the
ancient Greeks to Celtic myths, Egyptian pharaohs, Gilgamesh and
Julius Caesar. The text, translated from the Portuguese by Daniel
Hahn, moves fluidly from systemic historiography to guesswork and
lighthearted extrapolation . . . The result is a curiously
hybridized book, at times playful, at times intensely scientific .
. . Poetic and visceral."
*The Wall Street Journal*
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