Many of the Scientific American Library books are gems and this isosemantically titled book by Dr. Snyder is no exception. The books I have read from this series are uniformly short, sweet and to the point. Drugs, per se, are after all essentially what brain function is. Drugs are our personalities, our emotions (not to mention all other vertebrates, especially the class of mammals to which we belong). There is no better way to come to understand psychology, physiology, the cognitive sciences, and one could argue, metaphysics, than by examining the action of drugs and the brain; the primary distinction being intrinsic, naturally produced drugs as opposed to extrinsic, store (or street) bought ones.

Dr. Snyder runs through the litany of the common classes of drugs: the opiates and their natural countersubstance, the endorphins--the stimulants and their action of dopamine reuptake blockage--the hallucinogens and their concomitant serotonergic pathways--and some of the more popular psychopharmcologicals specific to schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety.

This book is a well written, historically informative, crash course in pharmacology for the lay reader, and remains a valuable reference long after its initial reading.

This book is short, accessible, and fully illustrated. It is a particularly compelling technical primer for the intelligent but non-initiated reader. The logical flow of the book reflects the history of drug use and pharmacology research, both increasing in sophistication over time, and is topically organized by the major classes of psychoactives.

Subjects touched upon include the use of drugs in religious ceremony, Freud's cocain habit, the 60s, and the modern era of specialized mood-altering drugs.

The author is chair of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and one of the top three most cited scientists in the life science.

It is a pleasure to read, and a springboard for further investigation in the areas of psychopharmacology, neuroscience or psychiatry.

Good science book on the subject, very thorough biographies of both Crick and Watson. Text is a little dry, but the occasioanl picture perks it up. Illustrations are in black and white. I would recommend this book to the 7th grade up, and will include a recommendation for the teachers as well.

Ages 12 and older will appreciate this introduction which opens with a background history on conditions and research into treatment and include plenty of basic physiology facts. Edward Edelson's The Immune System discusses immune system disorders and diseases, from basic physiology to prevention.