Events
August 14
“The RIGHT STUFF”
in the Right Place -
Grant Park!
8:00pm (rain or shine)
Grant Park, Butler Field
Get Involved in an
Exciting Science Project
The Genographic Project
World Community Grid
SETI@Home
A special book launch event for
Your Brain on Cubs: Inside the Heads of Players and Fans
An evening discussion with Jeremy Manier, science and medical writer, Chicago Tribune and special guests:
Dan Gordon, Editor,
Steven Small, PhD, University of Chicago, Aryeh Routtenberg, PhD, Northwestern University
Monday, March 10
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
The Cubby Bear
1059 W. Addison Street, Chicago, IL
Book Signing to Follow
The event is free but space is limited. To reserve a seat, email info@IllinoisScience.org and include your name and the number of people attending.
Co-sponsored by The Illinois Science Council and the Dana Foundation.
A group of today’s leading science writers and neuroscientists explore here the ways that our brain functions when we participate in sports as fans, athletes, and coaches, taking baseball as the quintessential sport for all three perspectives.
The contributors tackle such questions as: How does a player hit a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball when he barely has time to visually register it? Why do fans remain devotedly loyal year after year? And what allows them to believe in superstitions, such as a curse?
Other topics investigated in the book include how a ballplayer’s brain changes as he gains experience and expertise, why there are a higher percentage of left-handers in the major leagues compared to the general population, and the ethical implications of neurological performance enhancement.
Edited by Dan Gordon, managing editor of Dana Press in Washington, D.C., who edits and oversees periodicals and books for general readers about the brain. A native of Normal, Ill.—the border region between Cubs and Cardinals territory—he has been a Cubs fan since age 6. Having experienced the cycles of hope and disappointment that true fans know all too well, he realized one sunny Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field that in the context of sports fandom, examining the brain is a natural.
What people say about Your Brain on Cubs
Excerpts from Your Brain on Cubs
