David Eagleman to speak twice Monday at San Jac South

Dr. David Eagleman

Prominent neuroscientist Dr. David Eagleman will speak Monday morning and
evening at San Jacinto College's south campus.

Eagleman, currently based at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine, has
become famous beyond Texas for his innovative yet accessible writing and
research.

San Jac biology faculty member Adam Eiler says he thinks Eagleman's
presentations should be compelling even for people not in the sciences.
"Even if you're going to be in criminal law, or anything that's going to
involve understanding people's behavior, you're going to appreciate,
hopefully, what he has to say," Eiler says.

Eiler says he's particularly fascinated with Eagleman's work on such
subjects as time perception and synesthesia. The latter is a condition in
which a person experiences the perception of some senses in ways that are
joined with other senses. For example, some with the condition visually
perceive certain colors when they hear certain sounds.

Eiler says that during Eagleman's presentation, there will be computers
available where people can take an online test for the condition.

Eiler, who also serves on the committee that arranged Eagleman's visit, says
the morning and evening sessions will have different angles.

"He's talking in the morning session about how the brain works, the
molecular part," Eiler says. "The evening one is almost more of a
psychologist kind of approach."

Eagleman's overall body of work should help students entering the sciences
understand that they have a whole range of career options, some of them
unconventional. Eiler points out that Eagleman has also branched out into
fiction, in addition to his writing and commentary for outlets ranging from
PBS to Slat*.

Eagleman's first lecture, titled In Praise of Uncertainty: Why I am a
Possibilian," will take place at 10 a.m. and is mostly for students. The
second, Neurolaw: The Brain and the Future of the American Legal System,"
is scheduled for 7 p.m. and is open go the public. Both will take place at
13735 Beamer Road.