When she鈥檚 not attempting to unwrap the chemical mysteries of the mind,
travelling, or checking out the latest neuroscience texts, Susan Greenfield
indulges her taste for historical fiction鈥攂ut 鈥渙nly that which is well
researched, and well written鈥�. They don鈥檛 come much better than The Leopard by
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (Harvill, 1996), her favourite book, and many other
people鈥檚 nomination as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.
Greenfield is director of the Royal Institution and professor of pharmacology
at Oxford University. Having two jobs means little time. 鈥淚 do not often re-read
books as there is so much to do and so much to read.鈥� In her academic capacity
she recommends Principles of Neural Science, edited by Eric R. Kandel and James
H. Schwartz (McGraw-Hill, 2000), though at 1414 pages it won鈥檛 just be
Greenfield who reads it once.