The Body
A Guide for Occupants - THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER
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4.5 • 164 Ratings
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
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
A wonderful overview of human physiology
Brilliantly written, accessible and incorporating many revealing facts about the ways in which knowledge about the body’s functions (and malfunctions) were discovered. There is also a great deal of information about the scientists who carried out the research and often about their personalities, which is a valuable addition to the text. Strongly recommended. It would be a great general reading text for students of medical science (I speak as someone who is involved in their training).
The Body by Bill Bryson
Absolutely excellent. I learned so much about myself and “yes” it was good while it lasted!
Brilliantly Human
I’ve read all of Bill Bryson’s books and the chap gets better and better and better. No other author does what he does, that I am aware of. Words like “genius”, “brilliant” and “wonderful” all spring to mind. But none quite capture this authors essence. The way he brings to life all his observations with humour and tact will leave you grinning from ear to ear. You’ll be cleverer, more thoughtful, more considered and have new snippets to share. He’s my number one dinner party guest (just in case you’re reading this Bill). Read this book. Then read the rest of his books. You won’t regret it.