My initial impression was that this book is over-ambitious in the scope of what it tries to cover. However, it is to some extent this very breadth that results in some thoughtful outcomes, by drawing together information from diverse sources on environmental and genetic factors and neurodegenerative diseases to propose common mechanisms and end-points.

The book seeks to describe the effects of environmental chemicals on not just two, but three complex areas of biology: nervous system function, gene expression, and developmental neurobiology. As …