The human head contains 22 bones, consisting of the cranium and the facial bones. The cranium is formed by eight bones: the frontal bone, two parietal bones, two temporal bones, the occipital bone in the back, the ethmoid bone behind the nose, and the sphenoid bone. The face consists of 14 bones including the maxilla (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw).

The cranium protects the brain, which, for an average adult male weighs 1,375 gram. The brain of Russian novelist Turgenev, weighed 2,021g, Bismarck’s brain weighed 1,807g while that of famous French statesman Gambetta was only 1,294g. Women’s brains are slightly smaller than men’s. The largest woman’s brain recorded weighed 1,742g. Einstein’s brain was of average size.

An elephant’s brain weighs 5,000g, a whale’s 10,000g. In proportion to the body, the whale has a much smaller brain than man. This seem to give man the edge, until it was discovered that the dwarf monkey has 1g of brain per 27g of body, and the capuchin monkey has 1g of brain per 17,5g body, whereas man has 1 gram of brain to 44g of body.

Brain power

The human brains consists of more than 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) through which the brain’s commands are sent in the form of electric pulses. These pulses travel at more than 400 km/h, creating enough electricity to power a light bulb. The brain consumes more energy than any other organ, burning up a whopping one-fifth of the food we take in.

It is estimated that the mental capacity of a 100-year-old human with perfect memory could be represented by computer with 10 to the power of 15 bits (one petabit). At the current rate of computer chip development, that figure can be reached in about 35 years. However, that represents just memory capacity, not the extremely complex processes of thought creation and emotions.

But consider this: for all the complexity of the brain, you still have only one thought at a time. Make it a positive thought.

Body Facts

• You’re born with 300 bones, but when you get to be an adult, you only have 206.

• One quarter of the brain is used to control the eye. We actually see with our brains, with the eyes basically being cameras.

• Most scientists believe that “photographic memory” is a myth. Clever people train their brains to remember well.

• The skull has many little holes in its base which allow the cranial nerves to travel to their destinations.

• The size of the brain cannot be used to measure the degree of mental ability in animals or in man.

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