Rating: 
Summary: A dazzler ¿ for the scientist and/or the dramatist
Review: Pert, will one day be generally regarded at least as highly as Sherrington or Penfield in the archives of neuroscience and probably higher. In her typically atypical style, she breaks all the rules as she wrote this remarkable book. And why not? She broke the nearly three hundred year Cartesian (the mind and body are separate) paradigme, one of the most enduring in all of science! This is not just a clearly written book on the neuroscience of emotion carrying peptides/receptors, but also of the emotional human drama of her journey of scientific discoveries. For the scientist in us, Pert clearly spells out how ligands (substances which specifically bind to selective receptors initiating sometimes dramatic intracellular biochemical changes) and termed "information molecules" or "information substances" communicate across systems which were for the most part traditionally considered separate. The "new neurology" demonstrates ligand communication between the neurological, immune, endocrine, and gastrointestinal systems. The reader may well be astounded to see that the traditional neurotransmitters (ligands such as dopamine, histamine, GABA, etc.) only comprise a tiny fraction of nervous system communication. The peptides, carriers of emotion and other information make up 95% of all ligands. Beyond the science however, Dr. Pert also provides an interesting inside look at the real world of scientific research. Her struggles, defeats and triumphs are told as she describes the dog-eat-dog culture of competitive neuroscience research in the suppressive and male dominated pharmacological, governmental, political realms. Only rarely in history does discovery, high intellect, and raw courage meld in one human being. And when it does, a revolution is born.
Rating: 
Summary: Autobiography of a Scientist
Review: This book came highly recommended. I am a scientist but not a biologist. I found the first couple of chapters rather difficult to comprehend since I had absolutely no background in molecular-biology. Because I like a great challenge, I decided to stick with the book and see if I could learn the technical lingo; after several pages into the book, and additional anatomy textbooks, I was able to comprehend what was going on and started to make sense of all the detailed research Dr. Pert was talking about. The downside of this book is that after 160 pages Dr. Pert is still talking about herself, her-misfortune and the roughness of her life being a woman working in a male dominated environment. There is nothing concrete on how one should apply or work with emotions to prevent illnesses until the very end of the book. If one would like to skip the agony of learning a new science and would like to get the just of the book, I suggest reading the last chapter, chapter 13 "Truth" pg 279 and then go to Appendix A and B. Personally, I found this book to be more of an autobiography. If you like autobiographies then it is entertaining but a difficult read if you are looking to better your life by learning from this book I suggest you choose an other author.
Rating:
Summary: She had me with the molecules, but lost me in murky emotion.
Review: This book was fascinating in Dr. Pert's account of the dirty politics of scientific research. More fascinating are the possibilities that she presents for her molecules of emotion. Dr. Pert puts me in mind of a true artist. Her imagination knows no boundaries. This is the stuff that invention and research should be made of. Unfortunately she and her comrades are relegated to duke it out for miniscule funds in a butt kissing atmosphere of paternalism. As a woman in science myself I know whereof she speaks. Two worthy books that address these issues are the Watson and Crick classic about the discovery and putting to press of DNA, and Woman as Healer, a book that every female healer (MD, RN, PT, massage therapist, etc) should read.Dr. Pert lost me when she spiraled off a bit in the second half of her book. I missed the treachery and maneuvering of her hardcore science. What was interesting about the second half was her witness to herself about her personal growth as a human being. She did not afterall get lost in the man-izing of her scientist self. Overall this is a good read. It was really good for the first half. I have thought of recommending it to my reading group for Women's Health Month, even though it is not exclusively about women's health. The interest is a woman's point of view.
Rating:
Summary: More like a novel
Review: This certainly is a book for those who like novels.
Suggestion for the rest of us who do not like novels: Just skip all the drama by scanning rapidly through the text.
You could find very informative data scattered here and there.
Especially, the last two chapters, which are most interesting.
Take out the drama and the book could be written in less than 100 pages.
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