Universe Within: The Surprising Way the Human Brain Models the Universe

Universe Within makes the case that the human brain is a physical model of the universe because of structural and dynamical similarities shared between the two systems based on the pictures emerging out of neuroscience and physics, respectively. The relationship between the human brain and the universe revealed by Melvin A. Felton, Jr. might be the missing principle that leads to the theory-of-everything.

About the Author :
Melvin Felton is a physicist who conducts research in diverse fields that include remote sensing of the lower atmosphere, cybernetics, and computational neuroscience. Since 2009, Melvin has utilized his personal time to research and write Universe Within: The Surprising Way the Human Brain Models the Universe. He lives in Washington, District of Columbia.

Review :
Mr. Felton takes us on a heady, if sometimes dizzying, tour through the wondrous and fantastical landscapes of humankind's outer and inner worlds. Drawing richly on perspectives in physics and neuroscience that range from the well-established to the currently emerging, "The Universe Within" covers enormous empirical, conceptual, and theoretical grounds; from fundamental forces and particles to neural networks in the brain and, ultimately, to profound questions of our religion and philosophy. The author takes an intellectual stand that is both bold and brave, posing an intriguing hypothesis about the potentially deep connections between the structure and dynamics of the physical universe and the physical brains that inhabit it in our little corner of reality. Well-written and engaging throughout, Mr. Felton's book is at once both thoroughly accessible and genuinely controversial, containing ideas on nearly every page that will stretch the reader's knowledge and thinking about the world, both as it is and as it might yet turn out to be. From cover to cover, it is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.--Dr. Kelvin S. Oie, Cognitive Neuroscientist Melvin's essential point -- namely, the structural and dynamical similarities between the brain and the universe at large, which he accounts for by arguing that the brain physically models the universe in its own image -- is one that deserves very serious consideration from the academic community and readers interested in a deeper, truer understanding of the nature of what we call reality. This book is a necessary step in the direction of exploring this crucial realization, whose implications are simultaneously vast and profound.--Bernardo Kastrup Our understanding of the Universe, and our place in it, advances in fits and starts when scientists and engineers place seemingly unrelated ideas together and ask, with an open mind, what new things can be learned from the juxtaposition. This book does just that in comparing what is known about the large-scale structure of the Universe to what is known about the structure of the human brain. The author thoroughly explains this comparison without resorting to excessive magic or excessively complicated mathematics. The result is an imaginative and enjoyable expose covering a broad range of science. Books such as this one are often just the ticket to encourage new thought and scholarship along one of the garden paths that advance our understanding of our place in the Universe. This is a good read, one that I will assign to my physical science students for a semester-long reading and writing exercise.--Dr. Calvin W. Lowe, Professor of Physics and Director of Interdisciplinary STEM Center at Hampton University, Hampton, VA (USA)