Competition: come up with a book title!

June 29, 2018 • 10:26 am

by Matthew Cobb

For the last three years I have been writing a popular science book, and I’m now getting to the final stretch, but I don’t have a satisfactory title. So, I’m looking to readers for inspiration. Please pitch in with your suggestions in the comments, and if myself and the publishers choose your title, you get a free, signed book, your name mentioned in the Acknowledgements and my eternal gratitude.

Here’s the difficult part – what the book is about.

It is a history of our ideas about how the brain works. It starts in pre-history (when we thought everything was about the heart) and goes through the ideas that have been put forward, right up to the present day and even to tomorrow. There is lots of science in there, but also some philosophy from the 17th and 18th centuries.

It is NOT a history of brain anatomy, a history of the Hard Problem (how consciousness arises), a history of neuroscience or a history of psychology, but it does contain some of these things.

The book looks at how the metaphors we have used about how the brain works have changed with technology (to put it crudely: hydraulics -> electricity -> telephone exchange -> computer -> network), but also how they are all inherently unsatisfactory. That’s the challenge – getting over this idea in something snappy.

My original working title was: Thinking Matter – A History of How the Brain Works. This has the advantage of being clever and referring to the first debate about the material basis of thought, in the late 17th century, when Locke suggested there might be ‘thinking matter’. But it’s been used a couple of times before, and the sales team at my publishers (Profile Books in London) thought it was meh. So at the moment it’s informally called ‘The Brain Book’.

In case it inspires you, the chapter titles are currently taken from quotes used in that chapter, so have varying contemporary styles. Those I’ve written so far (takes us up to the post-war world) are:

1. We feel here

2. Where is fancy bred

3. Souls of wheels and springs

4. The electric fluid

5. The bump for theft

6. Most marvellous atoms of matter

7. The functions of the brain

8. An infinite series of switches

9. One way to understand a mechanism is to make that mechanism

10. The fundamental feature of neural machinery

11. A neurophysiological postulate

That’s it. Good luck!

279 thoughts on “Competition: come up with a book title!”

    1. ‘History of the Brain, Part 1’ (even less original, but borrowed from Mel Brooks; and leaves room for a sequel)

      ‘The Selfish Brain’ (well, it worked for Dawkins, didn’t it?)

      ‘A Fistful of Neurons’
      ‘Is Your Brain Really Necessary?’
      ‘A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Cortex’

      1. If you prefixed “50 Shades of…” to “Grey Matters,” it’d be a best seller beyond your brain’s imagination

  5. Concepts in/of Cognition
    Concepts in/of Thought
    Conceptualizing Cognition (through time)
    Conceptualizations of Cognition ”

    (Off to think of more…)

    1. Cognizance (or is it Cognisance) of Cognition
      (subtitle: How much have we learned and how far do we have to go?)

  7. Bubble Brain ? It conjures up images of a hyped up, heated up financial sector as if your book is on the cusp of revealing something urgent and important.

  9. “Me, Myself, and My Brain”

    or

    “The Brain: It Ain’t What You Think It Is”

  11. Dear Jerry:

    I look forward to reading!
    Some thoughts on the matter: (also a viable title idea)

    1. Trains of Thought: how we think about thinking
    2. Grey Matter in a Black Box
    3. Interrogating the Interrogator

    Lastly, because we’re in Kansas,

    4. The Man Behind the Green Curtain

    Good luck with selecting an appropriate title and getting the book out the door!

    Jack

    1. Oops!
      Sorry Matthew! I hit send and suddenly realized my mistake!
      Nevertheless, all the best in finishing this up and getting it to us, the readers!

      Jack

    1. I (a CMU alumnus) always took that as a slight way to move in a different direction from people like Allen Newell and Herb Simon. I agree with them that one can study a lot of it without implementation, but not as much as they did.

  13. Brainography
    – the brain’s biography

    Brainiac

    Brain Matters

    The Mind’s I
    – a complete chronology of how the brain works

    Grey Matters

    Beyond the Brain

    What Lies Within (your head)

    Umm.. I want to keep going but my toddler just threw a bowl of goldfish on the floor

    2. “The brain’s biography” is nice, but how about “The Brain: A Biography”? (Or “The Brain, an *Auto*biography”)

  16. “The Soft Problem: Maps of the Structure of the Brain”

    (I confess to liking “Grey Matters” above.)

  18. Singing in the Brain
    Brain Dance
    Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be?
    What’s the Matter Now?
    All That Matters
    Nothing Really Matters
    The Art of the Matter
    Does it Matter?
    Mind Over Matter
    Truth of the Matter
    Matter of Fact
    Brainy Daze and Mondays (that’s enough, Ed.)

  19. Brains on Fire:
    Brain Thoughts
    Brain Story
    Brain Race: The History of Our Most Vital Organ.

  20. Tiny, charmed interior – this parlour of the brain

    Stolen from On Being Human, by C S Lewis

  22. “As Shadow is to Body” (from “mind is to brain as Shadow is to Body”)

    “I’ve Got a Idea!” (how the brain came to be)

    “Thinking in Time”

  24. Grey Matter – How Technology Changed the Way We Talk and Learn About the Brain

    I’ve never given any thought about how authors come up with book titles, this is hard work!

  25. -Mind Your Matter: A History of How the Brain Works
    -Mind Your Matter: A History of How We Think We Think

  28. How about

    “Never Mind, no matter”
    This made the rounds in the 18 cent..from some anon. salon wit.

    If you’re goal is just to sell a lot of copies with the title maybe:

    “Sexy Teen Vampire Brains” ? or
    “Swords, Gigantic Robot Aliens and Brains”

  32. Haven’t read all the above, but the first thing that occurs is:

    Tracking the Train of Thought: A History of How the Brain Works

  34. The Budding of Minds: A History of How the Brain Works

    Unlocking the suggestion box: A History of How the Brain Works

  36. On The Matter Of Gray Matter: A History Of Ideas About How The Brain Works

    Getting To The Heart Of The Gray Matter: A History of Ideas About How The Brain Works

    Explaining The Brain: A History of Metaphors Used To Frame The Brain

    Hand Me A Scalpel: An In-depth Look At The Ideas Used To Frame The Brain Throughout History

  41. “Brains on Brain — A History of How We Think the Brain Works”

    Whatever you choose for the initial part of the title, I think an added “We Think” or the equivalent is a necessary addition to the second part, if it is to describe accurately what the book is about.

  45. From feeling to function: (Followed by your original “A history of how the brain works”

  49. Off the top of my head (so to speak — and that’s not a suggested title):
    1. Lines of Thought: Ways of Thinking about Our Brains, Our Minds, and Our Selves;
    2. Speaking Our Minds, Tooling Our Thoughts:[Insert subtitle here; maybe the same as in 1.]
    2a) Just “Speaking Our Minds”
    3. Nicholas Nickelby

  50. What’s the Matter? A History of Thinking About the Brain

    I actually liked A History of Thinking About Thinking but it wasn’t exactly accurate.

    1. Thanks. But how is “A History of Thinking About Thinking” not accurate? Perhaps I misunderstood what the book is about. I really want to know as I am perfectly willing to go back to the drawing board.

      1. Because the book isn’t just about the process of thinking but how the mind works and it does more than think.

  60. NeuroIncognita, and then an appropriate subtitle, something like – the pursuit of understanding how the human brain creates the mind…or some such.,

  61. “What we Think about What we Think” (though this may be better as a subtitle)… or “What we Thought about What we Think.” or “How we Thought about What we Thought.”

    “Thinking about Thinking”

    “I think the thoughts we used to think were not the best thoughts about thinking”

    Cover image: brain “looking” into a mirror.

    1. Or maybe

      ‘Think About Thoughts While Thinking Things: a thort guide to thinking for thought-thinking thinkers who think thoughts about thience’

  62. I’m a fan of many of the suggestions!
    Tabula inscripta : How We’ve Filled the Gaps

  63. “The Embodied Brain”; suggesting that it is the entire sensory network that builds our sensations.

  67. I think the current subtitle is informative and could be kept, but re-positioned as a pre-title, thusly:

    A History of How
    the Brain Works:
    WE THINK

    Since as professor Coyne has said, all scientific knowledge is provisional.

  68. I hope you will squeeze in this quote from Emo Philips:

    “I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.”

    1. “I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body.”

      Presumably he then reached puberty and discovered an ever more wonderful organ

  70. Fifty Shades of Grey Matter

    A Brief History of the Brain

    The Brain Through History

    Getting to Know You: The History of Thought About the Brain and Mind

  72. The Organ that Plays Our Inner Melody

    Living Mind(s) – How to Conceive that Cells Generate Ideas

    Ideal Matter

  78. BRAAAINS (Photo of author in handsome zombie mode holding delectable specimen)
    – Who does your brain think it is? (and why it’s wrong about that)

  80. “The progression of thought” – a history of how we know what we know

    “How we know what we know”

  81. Pennies For Their Thoughts: A History Of Ideas About How The Brain Works

    The Thinking Cap: A History Of Ideas About How The Brain Works

    Getting A Head From Behind: A History Of Ideas About How The Brain Works

  85. Hi Matthew, I loved your previous book “Life’s Greatest Secret”, and I’ll eagerly waiting for this book to come out ASAP.

    Here’s my shot at the title:

    “Mindful Contemplations: How Our Ideas About Brain’s Workings Have Evolved from Prehistoric Times to 21st Century”

  88. ‘You Are Here – How We Discovered The Brain And What It Does’

    ‘An Outer History Of Inner Space’

    ‘Charting Inner Space’

    ‘Views Of The Interior – A History Of The Brain’

    ‘Outside Looking In’

    1. In case it was too subtle, the title ‘You Are Here’ is a play on those lifesaving signs you find in shopping malls that tell slow-witted people where they are with a big red arrow…ie. ‘you’ are to be found in the brain.
      You could work this into the cover; a map-style illustration of the human body with an arrow pointing to the brain, and the title nearby.

  89. Cogitations on cognition:

    The Perception of Perception:

    Perspectives on Perception:

    After those add the sub, “The history of how we’ve thought the brain works.”

    “How does the Brain Work, and Why? Thoughts through the ages.”

  90. I am horrible with titles, so I won’t attempt one.

    However, there *is* another debate over materialism prior to Locke. In fact, two.

    One is the one Descartes had that prompted him to write _Passions of the Soul_, which despite its name is basically (fanciful) physiological psychology.

    Another is less obvious and perhaps not quite one: Plato in the Phaedo has a critique of what many people consider a reference to preSocratic materialists on this question. (It is dogmatic and bad and put in the mouth of Socrates, but it is there.) Target may have been Diogenes of Apollonia as I recall, or Democritus.

  92. Building on others:

    “Thoughts on thoughts”

    I’m working my way through Gilberts newest Dev Bio. If I come across a great turn of phrase by R y Cajal or others I’ll pass it on.

  93. Mr. Hayes,

    I am not able to help with a title but would like to get a copy when it comes out.

    I would like to read something without a lot of woo.

    All the Best,
    Joe Hahn

  94. Skull-Crushed: A History of Technology-Related Metaphors About How The Brain Works And How Those Metaphors Have Been Unsatisfactory

      1. Burroughs’ boring & vastly overrated novel “The Soft Machine” has nothing to do with the brain unfortunately [as you’re probably aware]

        “Soft Machine” the jazz-fusion band is fine stuff if you’re into that time & place – I like ’em if I prep myself. They were lazy & drug-addled buggers who should have worked harder 🙂

        2. Lots of Soft bands out there. Soft Cell, The Soft Boys, The Soft Pack, Soft Hair, Soft Machine. It’s like comic book characters and the prefix Green. A very popular choice for some reason.

          1. I hadn’t noticed the green thing [lol] until you mention. How about pink band names? Possibly more than “black”: P!nk, Pink Floyd, Pink Hotel, Pink Military, Pink Fairies, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffitti, Pink Turns Blue, Pink Talking Fish [tribute band], Legendary Pink Dots, Flux of Pink Indians, Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkeybirds, Barely Pink, The Pink Spiders, Pinkshinyultrablast, Pink Grease, Pink Industry, Vicious Pink, Pink Flag, Pink Martini, Pinkerton Thugs, Pink Lincolns.

          2. And “Soft Machine” made me think of Gold-Frapp’s “Strict Machine”. And I think you could see Gold-Frapp as the successor to bands like Soft Cell.

            Also, speaking of Gold Frapp, I was looking for the song Ooo La La and had a list on Spotify. I was playing that list and Brittany Spear’s “Ooops I did it again” came up just as someone passed ahead of me and I had to slow way down because it looked like they were going to hit me head on in my little Miata. I actually thought “Great, I’m going to die listening to Brittany Spears”.

    3. @Diana MacPherson

      Live festival Goldfrapp for Alison at her arty, stagy, bondage best. Here’s a great example from Isle of Wight, 2006:

      1. Cool. I like the song White Horse too. Strict Machine is my favourite because it includes the line “wonderful electric”.

    1. To which I would add an “s.”

      Thinking Matters
      A History of How the Brain Works.

      And any decent designer should be able make almost any title graphically respectable.

  100. “Enlightening the Fold(s)”
    as in the topographical folds in the brain. It could be used metaphorically as in “bring into the fold”, which is why I made the “s” optional. “Enlightening” would also reference metaphorically shining a light on the brain as knowledge grows, while also giving a nod to The Enlightenment, which of course helped push science along.

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