About the Author

John Fleischman uses his brain as a science writer with the American Society for Cell Biology and as a freelance writer for various magazines, including Discover, Muse, and Air & Space Smithsonian. He has been a science writer at the Harvard Medical School and a senior editor with Yankee and Ohio magazines. He lives in Ohio with his wife and a greyhound named Psyche.

Reviews

"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 --

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.