Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived to live another eleven years and become a textbook case in brain science.At the time, Phineas Gage seemed to completely recover from his accident. He could walk, talk, work, and travel, but he was changed. Gage "was no longer Gage," said his Vermont doct...

In 1848 Vermont, railroad foreman Phineas Gage sat above a hole, preparing to blast through some granite. A 13-pound iron rod fell from his hands into the hole, triggering the explosion and sending the rod straight through Phineas' head. Thirty minutes after this terrible accident, Phineas sat on the steps of a hotel, patiently waiting for the town doctor to arrive. He chatted with his amazed coworkers as if nothing had happened. But something terrible had happened. The rod that shot throu...

DON’T MISS BRIDGE OF CLAY, MARKUS ZUSAK’S FIRST NOVEL SINCE THE BOOK THIEF.The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.When Death has a story to tell, you listen.It...

What animals have shells? See the wide variety, from armadillos and snails to crabs and turtles.

In this Britannica guide to the human brain, the complex biology behind thought and sensation is explained in a way that is clear and comprehensive for lower elementary readers. Each part of the brain and its function is presented with diagrams and eye-catching images that help navigate the anatomy of the brain. Most important, Compare and Contrast and Think About It sidebars invite readers to connect ideas and make logical inferences based on the text—both key components of the Common Cor...

Our son, Julian, was born 15 weeks early, at 1 pound 15 ounces, on January 25, 2004. He spent nearly 5 months in the hospital. He was diagnosed with Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) after suffering from a Grade 4 brain bleed on the left side of his brain and a Grade 1 bleed on the right side.Simply put, PVL has been described to me as brain damage. Julian wore hearing aids for the first two years of his life, and has minor physical issues including fine and gross motor skill diff...