Richard Leblanc

Wilder Penfield (1891-1976) is famous for his contributions to the understanding of epilepsy and for his discoveries of the relationship between the structure and function of the human brain. His operations, which involved stimulating the cerebral cortex of awake patients with a fine electrode, assured the complete removal of lesions that caused epilepsy. Less widely known is his use of the same technique to localize the interpretation of language, the recording of memories, and the ability to interpret the present in light of past experience. Radical Treatment follows the evolution of Penfield's thinking from his description of brain scars at the beginning of his career to his last thoughts on the human condition. Through a review of his clinical charts, intraoperative sketches, manuscript notes, and other archival material held at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, this book presents a fascinating narrative of the development of Penfield's career and the processes that led to each of his great discoveries. Richard Leblanc vividly conveys the collaborative nature of Penfield's work at the Royal Victoria Hospital and at the MNI, which led to his greatest discoveries. Revealing the duality of a life in science, Leblanc shows that while Penfield was instrumental in establishing the localization of specific functions to distinct regions of the brain, he concurrently stressed the integrative action of the nervous system. Written by the leading authority on the history of Penfield's Montreal Neurological Institute, Radical Treatment is an insightful account of the scientific accomplishments of one of the twentieth century's most influential neuroscientists.

Paul Broca made the most significant discovery in nineteenth-century human biology when he found that speech resides within the left frontal lobe of the human brain. As a young surgeon working at the hospice at Bicetre on the outskirts of Paris - a repository for the criminal, the insane, the indigent, and the sick - Broca had to overcome derision, acrimony, personal attacks, vindictiveness, and prevailing doctrines before his findings were accepted. Based on a new reading and translation of original records by Broca, Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud, and Gustave Dax, Fearful Asymmetry recounts the story of this hard-won scientific discovery. Richard Leblanc describes the contentious process, beginning with Bouillaud, who laid the groundwork for the findings, that led Broca on the trail of discovery as he struggled to bring forward a fundamental truth of neurology and, ultimately, of the human condition. Finally, Leblanc connects the research of the three French scientists to the work of Wilder Penfield at the Montreal Neurological Institute in the twentieth century, when neurology moved beyond postmortem anatomical studies to direct observations of the conscious brain. Making many of the debates about localization available for the first time in English, Fearful Asymmetry provides a detailed account of one critical scientific success and the long history behind it.

In 1934 Wilder Penfield's vision of an establishment dedicated to the relief of sickness and pain and the study of neurology led to the creation of the Montreal Neurological Institute. Setting the standard for neurological research and care for patients disabled by neurological illnesses, Penfield's institute became a beacon of light in a largely unexplored field of medicine. The Wounded Brain Healed describes the pioneering research that took place during the MNI's first fifty years. During the institute's golden age, Penfield and his colleagues designed the EEG test for the study of epileptic patients, discovered some of the causes of epilepsy, and developed new treatments that have since been adopted worldwide. Additionally, they delineated the sensory and motor representation in the cerebral cortex and localized the major areas of the brain related to speech. The institute also boasts the discoveries of two types of memory - one serving immediate recall, the other long term - as well as the discovery of the localization of short-term memory to the inner structures of the temporal lobe. Physicians and scientists who trained at the MNI went on to establish renowned neurology and neurosurgery departments throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Recounting the story of one of Canada's greatest contributions to international medical science through archival research, personal interviews, photographs, illustrations, and paintings, The Wounded Brain Healed provides fascinating insight into the institution that had a global and lasting impact.

A Wave of Darkness is about to wash over the Veil. The seeds to an ancient prophecy are starting to bloom, threatening all that lives. If unopposed, the sinister will of the Daemon Lord Bo'Glin will come to pass... Enter Qu'Tee a cleric who serves the order of the butterfly, and the only one who can unite the races of the Veil and stop the daemon lord Bo'Glin.

Crafting a Compiler is a practical yet thorough treatment of compiler construction. It is ideal for undergraduate courses in Compilers or for software engineers, systems analysts, and software architects. Crafting a Compiler is an undergraduate-level text that presents a practical approach to compiler construction with thorough coverage of the material and examples that clearly illustrate the concepts in the book. Unlike other texts on the market, Fischer/Cytron/LeBlanc uses object-oriented design patterns and incorporates an algorithmic exposition with modern software practices. The text and its package of accompanying resources allow any instructor to teach a thorough and compelling course in compiler construction in a single semester. It is an ideal reference and tutorial for students, software engineers, systems analysts, and software architects.

Distinguished governance experts offer cures for what ails our boards of directors In light of corporate malfeasance in recent years, the governance of corporations has been receiving great attention from regulators, researchers, shareholders, and directors themselves. Based on Richard Leblanc's in-depth five-year study of 39 boards of directors of both for- and not-for-profit organizations, Building a Better Board goes behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of boards of directors, including how they make decisions. Recently chosen as one of Canada's "Top 40 Under 40"(TM), Dr Richard Leblanc is an award-winning teacher and researcher, certified management consultant, professional speaker, professor, lawyer and specialist on boards of directors. He can be reached at [email protected]. James Gillies, PhD (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), is Professor Emeritus at the Schulich School of Business, York University, where he serves as Chair of the Canada-Russia Corporate Governance Program.

This is an extremely practical hands-on approach to building compilers using the C programming language. The book includes numerous examples of working code from a real compiler and covers such advanced topics as code generation, optimization, and real-world parsing. It is an ideal reference and tutorial.