An Anthropologist on Mars

Main Characters and Their Development

• Temple Grandin - a woman with autism who became a successful expert in livestock handling. Her story shows how the unique perspective of an autistic person can lead to innovations in the industry.
• Stephen Wiltshire - a man with autism who possesses a phenomenal ability to remember and reproduce complex cityscapes after a brief glance.
• Greg F. - an artist who, after a car accident, developed savant syndrome, significantly enhancing his drawing abilities.
• Mr. I. - a man who lost the ability for visual thinking after brain surgery, leading to changes in his life and worldview.
• Carl Bennett - a surgeon with Tourette's syndrome, whose condition does not prevent him from successfully practicing surgery, as his urges and motor tics disappear when he focuses on an operation.
• Virgil - a man blind from birth who had his sight restored in middle age. His experience adapting to a new world of vision reveals unexpected aspects of the human brain.
• Dr. Pauli - a man with Korsakoff's syndrome, who has almost no ability to retain new memories, confining his life to a constant present.