3+ rounded up to 4。 How scientists solve mysteries， and the mystery of memoryIn 2017 fourteen opioid overdose survivors awoke with significant and persistent amnesia and damage to the memory section of their brains。 This “amnestic syndrome” attracted the attention of the national media and inspired the writing of this book。 Serious memory loss has attracted the attention of scientists， though， for many years， and it is the story of their quests for knowledge in this field that Lauren Aguirre tel 3+ rounded up to 4。 How scientists solve mysteries， and the mystery of memoryIn 2017 fourteen opioid overdose survivors awoke with significant and persistent amnesia and damage to the memory section of their brains。 This “amnestic syndrome” attracted the attention of the national media and inspired the writing of this book。 Serious memory loss has attracted the attention of scientists， though， for many years， and it is the story of their quests for knowledge in this field that Lauren Aguirre tells in The Memory Thief。 Narrative nonfiction is popular and can give wonderful insights into a subject， but it is not an easy way to write， having the dual objectives of being informative and entertaining。 The Memory Thief does an excellent job of showing how science is done through the stories of several of the investigators involved in the study of memory loss， especially Dr。 Jed Barash。 We see the sometimes small details that spark new ideas and follow the researchers’ difficult quests to pursue those ideas successfully by means of collaboration and contacts， grants， and， ultimately， publication。 It helped me understand that the difficult subject itself is not the only major obstacle to progress。 There are also sympathetic and heartwrenching portrayals of the overdose victims themselves， especially young Owen Rivers， whose journal entries reveal the almost unbelievable effects of his amnesia and his attempts to cope with it。Although the emphasis is on the scientists’ work， there is also interesting science in The Memory Thief， and I learned a lot about the brain， especially the hippocampus。 There are some excellent pictures of the brain， including MRI results， and I would recommend that you read the book in a medium that can handle color to get the full effect。Much as I enjoyed and learned from the book， the writing itself showed some roughness， some of which I hope will be smoothed before publication， beginning with the title， which has two colons （！）， i。e。， The Memory Thief: And The Secrets Behind How We Remember: A Medical Mystery。 There are also seemingly inexplicable tense shifts in the middle of paragraphs that are jarring。 Although the narrative technique was overall very effective， there was too much extraneous detail。 Knowing which journals are important and how one tries to get published is useful information。 When Jed Barash’s son takes his nap or what pictures are on someone’s wall is not， and these details are distracting rather than supplemental to the picture。 Memory is crucial to who we are and how we navigate life， and this story of how scientists really work to uncover its mysteries is overall a fascinating read， well worth remembering。I received an advance review copy of this book from Edelweiss 。。。more