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Emergence

A Memoir of Boyhood, Computation, and the Mysteries of Mind

Emergence Open the full-size image

Contributors

By David Sussillo

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Mar 17, 2026
Page Count
384 pages
Publisher
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN-13
9781538768570

Price

$30.00

Price

$40.00 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. Hardcover $30.00 $40.00 CAD
  2. ebook $14.99 $19.99 CAD
  3. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $27.99

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David Sussillo has made a career at the cutting edge of neuroscience and technology—yet his path there was anything but a straight line. Born to drug-addicted parents in New Mexico, he navigated a childhood marked by violence and neglect. But a seed was planted at the unlikeliest of places—the local arcade.

What follows is a remarkable journey of resilience and transformation, from the chaotic corridors of group homes to the halls of Columbia and Stanford. Along the way, Sussillo takes readers on an illuminating tour of the century-long dance between neuroscience, physics, and computation that has laid the groundwork for neural networks—the technology that drives modern artificial intelligence. As he advances in the field, working to demystify these networks, he also begins to pursue an answer to a more personal question: why, and how, did he succeed against all odds?

Emergence radiates heartbreak, humor, and scientific wonder, inviting readers on an unforgettable journey that bridges the personal and the profound, revealing how intricate complexities arise from simple beginnings.
 

Genre:

  • "From shattered beginnings to the cutting edge of science, Sussillo's raw and luminous memoir charts the extraordinary journey of a child born into chaos to his eventual emergence as a pioneering scientist. This is a raw story you'll never forget; it’s a testament to resilience, the power of curiosity, and the stubborn light of hope that illuminates even the darkest places."
    David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford, author of Incognito and Livewired
  • "In Emergence, the author beautifully weaves together the personal and the scientific, the societal and the individual, to create an emotional roadmap of one person’s journey that just happens to coincide with a technology that is reshaping society.  This story could not be more timely."
    David Ambroz, author of A Place Called Home
  • "This fascinating personal journey takes you behind the scenes of the biggest scientific and engineering revolution in our lifetime—the birth of NeuroAI."
    Terrence Sejnowski, Francis Crick Chair, Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, University of California, San Diego

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David Sussillo

About the Author

David Sussillo spent five years in the Albuquerque Christian Children's Home and four years at the Milton Hershey School as a child. After graduating high school, he ultimately received a Ph.D. from Columbia University in Computational Neuroscience. Now David is an adjunct professor at Stanford University and has been a scientist at the Google Brain group (recently featured in the book Genius Makers) and Meta Reality Labs. In his professional pursuits, David researches brain-machine interfaces to develop the next generation of computers. David was the recipient of a Fulbright research grant and is an internationally recognized neuroscientist with over 40 publications. He works to understand the ghost in the machine – how cells in our brain collectively give rise to the computations that determine behavior. David has been happily married these last 17 years to his wife, Robin.

Learn more about this author