Brain wave

The Open University’s CD-ROM The Human Brain, meanwhile, slides on a patch
of authenticity and goes sprawling. “The human nervous system consists of a
`bwane’,” says the narrator: cue fond flashbacks to the sort of stoned hysterics
we enjoyed in the days before all-night TV. The gannet-feeding-on-scraps
teaching style is, alas, equally characteristic of the Flared Period. “Do you
wish to exit The Human Brain?” We’re way ahead of you, son . . . Published by
Springer-Verlag, £24.95, ISBN 3540146660.