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How long does it take to read Reading in the Brain?

Stanislas Dehaene

Reading in the Brain by Stanislas Dehaene takes about 7 hours 7 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 7 hours 7 minutes

A weekend read

First published 2009. 388 pages, about 106,700 words.

15 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 11 hours 51 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 7 hours 7 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 4 hours 27 minutes

The page count is the median across 4 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

A renowned cognitive neuroscientist's fascinating and highly informative account of how the brain acquires readingHow can a few black marks on a white page evoke an entire universe of sounds and meanings? In this riveting investigation, Stanislas Dehaene provides an accessible account of the brain circuitry of reading and explores what he calls the "reading paradox": Our cortex is the product of millions of years of evolution in a world without writing, so how did it adapt to recognize words? Reading in the Brain describes pioneering research on how we process language, revealing the hidden logic of spelling and the existence of powerful unconscious mechanisms for decoding words of any size, case, or font.Dehaene's research will fascinate not only readers interested in science and culture, but also educators concerned with debates on how we learn to read, and who wrestle with pathologies such as dyslexia. Like Steven Pinker, Dehaene argues that the mind is not a blank slate: Writing systems across all cultures rely on the same brain circuits, and reading is only possible insofar as it fits within the limits of a primate brain. Setting cutting-edge science in the context of cultural debate, Reading in the Brain is an unparalleled guide to a uniquely human ability.

Subjects: Science, Nonfiction, Psychology, Psychology of Reading, Reading, Physiological aspects

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