Very educational and deeply saddening

The reviewers who protest this book's mix of scientific narrative, personal history, and professional politics miss the point completely: the separation between body and mind is artificial. Failing to acnkowledge this connectedness in every endeavor, including scientific ones, is specious and incomplete, as outdated as the Cartesian separation of mind and body that hailed the so-called "Age of Reason." (Remember, the church insisted on this split, ceding the material world to science so the church could continue its dominion over people's souls.)

Besides, Dr. Pert's autobiography and bio-drama in the scientific political complex kept this non-scientist-reader hooked on the book. Thanks to the fascinating story, I was able to sustain my attention enough to glean some understanding of the molecular basis for our emotions and general bodymind states.

However, and this is a big "however," I would like to know Dr. Pert's current thinking on the countless animal experiments she and her colleagues perform. I am hoping she has evolved beyond the acceptance she held when writing _The Molecules of Emotion_ -- in fact, I kept hoping she'd do so over the course of the book, but no dice.

Dr. Pert herself had to overcome the natural revulsion of killing living beings in order to study them in a lab. To her detriment (and that of the animals), she squelched the true feelings of her bodymind and became an expert murderer of innocent animals just to fit in. A true revolutionary would have acted more humanely.

If Dr. Pert remains somewhat unintegrated and unhealed, I would suggest addressing this area immediately. When we treat animals as products and objects instead of the (now undeniably proven) sentient bengs they are, we cause immeasurable pain suffering, cheapen our own lives, and set a terrible, murderous example for the current population and future generations, to say nothing of the pollution and mutations that result due disposing of chemical-laden carcasses.

WE are animals, too. What we do to them, we do to us. Big mistake.

EXCELLENT!

This book is excellent. You can skim the technical stuff and still get a sense of what Candace Pert is saying to us. She describes her journey which starts as a hard, empirical scientist working in academia, National Institute of Health and National Institute of Mental Health. Here, only an objective, distant, male-oriented view of the world was accepted. She eventually evolved to embrace and celebrate the importance of feminist view in science and to see the mind, body, and spirit connection. She provides a scientific basis for the ideas that some would call "far out". These ideas seem far out only to those who have not ventured far.

inspirational, informative and thought provoking

After watching the movie "What the Bleep..." where the author of this book is featured, I felt like reading some more about the bio-chemical nature of our emotions. I found this book inspirational in that it's largely autobiographical. Much of the book is written in the first person where Dr. Pert talks of her trials and tribulations in a male dominated area. She talks of people who helped her tremendously and others who tried to steal her fame and cut her down (as well as some who actually did). I think many people think that hard work alone will get them where they'd like to go in life. But nothing could be further from the truth. As illustrated in this book, so much depends on who you know, who likes you, and who's willing to help you. There is no question in my mind that Candice Pert is a brilliant scientist. But I seriously doubt if she could have discovered the opiate receptor had she not met certain key people in her life.

In light of the recent talk about women being inferior scientists than men, this book is a must read for young women interested in going into the sciences. Candice Pert pulls no punches and tells it like it is.

Chapters 7 through 9 were the most informative and thought provoking to me. There is a wealth of information on how our emotions are mere results of chemical peptides latching on to receptors of cells in the body. Our emotions are also mechanisms for activating certain neuronal circuits. When certain neuronal circuits are activated, the mood or feelings we have can facilitate certain memories associated with that mood or feeling. This is called state dependent recall or dissociated states of learning. After reading this, I asked myself whether or not certain memories or things which remind us of certain experiences can evoke certain moods, feelings or behaviors. After reading more and thinking about it, I see no reason why not which is interesting because that gives a strong basis for such things as snap judgements and "instincts".