The Body
A Guide for Occupants - THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER
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4.4 • 112 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
#1 Bestseller in both hardback and paperback: SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE
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'A directory of wonders.' - The Guardian
'Jaw-dropping.' - The Times
'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson...an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book.' - The Sunday Times
'It is a feat of narrative skill to bake so many facts into an entertaining and nutritious book.' - The Daily Telegraph
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'We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and what goes on inside it. The idea of the book is simply to try to understand the extraordinary contraption that is us.'
Bill Bryson sets off to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological make up.
A wonderful successor to A Short History of Nearly Everything, this new book is an instant classic. It will have you marvelling at the form you occupy, and celebrating the genius of your existence, time and time again.
'What I learned is that we are infinitely more complex and wondrous, and often more mysterious, than I had ever suspected. There really is no story more amazing than the story of us.' Bill Bryson
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bryson (The Road to Little Dribbling), known for his travel narratives and, more recently, popular scientific works, turns his humorous and curious eye to the human body. Through anecdotes about scientific history and startling facts that seem too extraordinary to be true the DNA in one person, if stretched out, would measure billions of miles and reach beyond Pluto Bryson draws the reader into his subject. Tracing the beginnings of the modern understanding of the human body, Bryson introduces his audience to such foundational figures as Henry Gray, whose book Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical (better known as Gray's Anatomy) has taught generations of medical students since its first publication in 1858, and Wilbur Olin Atwater, a chemist whose 1898 The Chemical Composition of American Food Materials "remained the last word on diet and nutrition for a generation." Bryson also describes the often bewildering mystery of diseases, the science of pain, and the advances made in medical treatment, all with care and concern. Bryson's tone is both informative and inviting, encouraging the reader, throughout this exemplary work, to share the sense of wonder he expresses at how the body is constituted and what it is capable of.
Customer Reviews
Don’t believe everything you think.
This is a painstakingly detailed book about our bodies written in a style that makes easy reading. The facts, and there are lots of them, are beautifully referenced and this book is great source material.
It should be read and studied widely.
Body of work
4.5 stars
Author
American. (“I come from Des Moines. Someone had to.”) Moved to UK 1977, and is back there now after several years in New Hampshire. Journalist turned non-fiction writer, mainly about travel, but also about the English language, and science more recently. A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003) was a huge bestseller shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, before going on to win the Aventis Prize for Science Books and the Descartes Science Communication Prize.
Summary
System by system review of the human body for lay people that manages to cover an incredible amount in a relatively short time (400 pages) with numerous entertaining sidebars about interesting—read quirky in many cases—individuals and lashings of Mr Bryson’s trademark wit.
Bottom line
Having survived medical school and many years in practice, I didn’t learn anything new science wise, but I enjoyed myself immensely and can only marvel at Mr Bryson’s skill as a communicator. Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Brian Cox, eat your hearts out.
Whoo hoo it’s here!
Have been anxiously awaiting the release of this book. With only three chapters read so far I can confidently say I will be putting this next to my copy of A Short History of Nearly Everything on my bookshelf at school - the only two texts I need to make Science come alive for my students (even though I’ve co-authored three school Biology texts myself!). Thankyou Mr Bryson once again!!