A World Appears

Reviews / Votes

Pollan has one of the most inquisitive and accommodating minds in the higher journalism of ourtime... A World Appears is a big, generous, illuminating and beautifully written inquiry into the essence of our being-in-the-world, of being, simply, alive -- John Banville * Financial Times * Lucid, engaging, insightful and informative... refreshingly assertive and sceptical... Pollan is a superb writer -- Tim Crane * TLS * Lucid and impassioned... a fabulous and mind-expanding exploration of consciousness... bridging both science and the humanities, Pollan mines neuroscientific research, philosophy, literature and his own mind, searching for different ways to think about being -- Edward Posnett * Guardian * Razor-sharp, reassuringly sceptical, sensitive and grounded... you could not hope for a more judicious or readable summary of the scientific state of affairs -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times * Humane and persuasive... this combination of boldness and intellectual humility, dogged curiosity and an openness to wonder makes Pollan, a veteran science journalist, an ideal guide to the mysteries of consciousness and science's many frustrated attempts to understand it. Few writers possess the same skill for translating notoriously abstruse theories... into readily understandable prose -- Sophie McBain * Observer * Fair-minded and analytical as well as marvellously lucid... touched with brilliance in the way it is so elegantly offered up for our reading pleasure -- Sebastian Faulks * Spectator * Pollan's real genius-the word is not too strong-remains intact. That is his uncanny ability to scent the direction in which the culture is headed. He did it with food and psychedelics, and now, though A World Appears focuses on AI only intermittently, he has done it again -- Charles Finch * The Atlantic * Highly pleasurable to read... He presents a captivating exploration, one that is highly personal and sensitive. Unlike with a book that simply reports the state of the consciousness field, we receive the story through the sharp mind of a writer and the questioning heart of a seeker . . . He confronts questions about the mind ... always with a winning combination of awe and skepticism -- David Eagleman * The New York Times Book Review * Like all of Pollan's books, in his latest work, the reader goes on a voyage of discovery with him as he interviews leading scientists and looks to literature, Indigenous epistemologies, psychology and even plants themselves for answers -- Shelby Hartman * The Los Angeles Times * This book seems to be not so much theoretical as experiential, with Pollan using many different lenses (neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, psychedelic) to explore the field in a personal manner . . . Great stuff -- Grace Wade * New Scientist *