Diseases of the Thyroid, Vol. 2 Book

This is a brilliant, high-level look at the state of the science of consciousness that actually has the guts and the gravitas to hypothesize a model that doesn't smack into the mind-body problem. This is not for the first-time layperson, but if you know your Sacks and Ramachandran, this is the no-punches-pulled seminar I was always looking for.

There are so many little mindblowing tidbits in here I could talk for days, but the idea of sensory consciousness as an interlocking network of maps whose outlines actually do have a physical correlation to sense data is pretty sweet. EG: Your cochlea are the little spiral cone of hairs in your inner ear that picks up sound like a reverse speaker. There are about 6 spots in the brain fingered through lesion studies and FMRI to have an association with sound processing on various levels--all of which ALSO light up in little spiral cones, each one.

His look into memory and habit formation is also an absolute gold mine. For serious enthusiasts, this is a brilliant mind at the top of its form. It will not all come out correct, but he knows that. In the meantime, this is like Hawking for brains--a synthesis that makes informed conversation possible without years of grad school.