Defending the Cavewoman: And Other Tales of Evolutionary Neurology

Harold Klawans was an evolutionary neurologist and a “master physician–storyteller.” Fans of Oliver Sacks will become fans of Klawans. He writes in the tone of a favourite old uncle who tells you tales about his work. You imagine he would have been a good bedside teacher. Here Klawans describes cases of neuropathology and attempts to localise the lesion: he does so without complicating the issue and makes general statements that are easy to digest (and recall) rather than outlining elaborate theories. For example, he simplifies all the pathology of aphasias into a few brief words: “If a patient has more trouble speaking than understanding, the lesion is towards the front of the dominant hemisphere. If the patient has more trouble understanding than speaking, the lesion is towards the back of the hemisphere.”

Like Sacks, Klawans illuminates and entertains with his sympathetic clinical tales. He was a classically trained neurologist who