Why Is Yawning Contagious?: Everything you ever wanted to know about the human body and some things you'd rather not know by Francesca Gould

Why

by Francesca Gould

Terkadang sains itu sinting. Bagimana tidak, berbagai jawaban atas pertanyaan ilmiah itu sebenarnya mudah dijawab dan tidak susah-susah amat. Tetapi manusia pada umumnya tidak mengetahui hal itu. Contohnya, mengapa menguap itu menular? Salah satu jawabannya, leluhur kita menggunakannya sebagai bagian perilaku sosial, sinting bukan? Buku ini memberikan banyak jawaban ilmiah bernada humor, antara lain:
• Apa yang terjadi pada alis mata Monalisa?
• Mengapa telapak tangan berkeringat ketika gugup?
• Apakah kebotakan tanda kejantanan?
• Bisakah mengebor lubang di tengkorak kepala menghilangkan depresi?
• Bisakah jilatan anjing mengobati luka?
• dan masih banyak lagi...

Buku ini dijamin akan memberikan jawaban-jawaban memuaskan yang selama ini tak terpikirkan oleh Anda. Segala hal yang ingin Anda ketahui mengenai tubuh manusia—tetapi Anda terlalu malu untuk menanyakannya.
Francesca Gould adalah dosen bidang anatomi dan fisiologi. Dia telah menulis banyak buku mengenai terapi holistik, mengelola sebuah sekolah pelatihan di Bristol, dan mengajar banyak kursus.

Genres: Science, Popular Science

Paperback

First published December 1, 2007

About the author

Francesca Gould is a lecturer in anatomy and physiology, and has always had a fascination for the more unusual and gruesome aspects of the human body.
She is the author of the New York Times (extended list) bestseller Why You Shouldn’t Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body and Why Fish Fart and Other Useless or Gross Information About the World.
She lives in Bristol, England.

Reviews

[Ramadhina S. Bintang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku ini ditulis oleh dosen dalam bidang anatomi dan fisiologi yang membahas tentang keadaan tubuh manusia.
Banyak sekali ilmu pengetahuan dan hal baru yang saya dapatkan ketika membaca buku ini.
Dan yang lebih menarik, buku ini berhasil membuat saya tanpa sadar menampakkan ekspresi kaget, ngilu, bahkan jijik ketika membacanya di dalam bus.

Yap, jangan baca buku ini ketika kalian makan, hahahah.

[Marco · Rating 1 out of 5]

This cute little book, which has been in the New York Times bestseller list, caught my eye at the library. It sat atop the health section, rather incongruous when juxtaposed against the several diet and fitness books on the shelf. The book says that it contains "Everything you ever wanted to know about the human body - and some things you'd rather NOT know." And so, with that entertaining premise, I decided to borrow it from the library.

My first impression is that it's very entertaining. It's got a lot of trivia style questions and answers and there are all sorts of facts, in chapters according to body system. At first, it seemed that there is nothing for me to get from the book as the illustrations seemed a bit aimed towards a much younger audience, but there is definitely a lot of science in this book, which is explained at a level that is easily understood by most people.

Most of the science is accurate, although some answers to the questions are heavily filled with science and other answers are not. There is, however, one answer that stood out to me, to the question "Why is urine yellow?"

From biology classes, I know that this is because of the pigment urobilin, which is formed from the breakdown of red blood cells. The answer given by Gould is that the yellow colour is caused by "bile, which is released by the gall bladder into the small intestine. Bile's function is to help breakdown fats that have been eaten." Although this seems completely incorrect because the digestive system is completely separate to the urinary system, it is true that the bile made by the liver and released by the gallbladder and the urobilin in the urine stems from the same process of the breakdown of red blood cells. The way in which the author wrote it suggested that the same bile that goes into the digestive system is the same chemical as the one which is in urine.

I think it is important to quickly note that Francesca Gould, the author, is not a doctor. She did a degree in Food and Nutrition at Bath Spa University.

Strangely, the titular question, "Why is yawning contagious?" is answered very vaguely, giving different answers according to the different theories... You'd have though that this question would have a definitive answer! There were other similarly vaguely-worded answers to other questions, but it is easy to overlook those flaws.

This book would make a great present for any child who likes a bit of science - and that includes most kids! I think what is best about this book is that it is easily accessible and there are quirky questions like "Why are bogies green?" and "Is it possible for a spider to live in your ear?" which most kids would enjoy reading about. It's also a great mythbusting book and delves into a bit of gory history. Perfect for any kid this Christmas!

[Asiuol K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love trivia books about the absurd. However, the issue with this is that they tend to blur together. There's nothing inherently wrong with this book, but there's nothing that sets it apart from all of the other whacky science explanation books. It is quite educational though, which is always a plus.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

1268th - 2011

[Ronit Asthana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative,good for trivia junkies ^3

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good question, as are many of the others in this book. Although in many cases the need for a question is only because the book is framed this way - sometimes a simple title or at least a more creative question would have helped. Clearly the author has had a passion for the obscure and curious aspects of the human body, and for the most part this proved interesting. But it was not a compelling read, more light entertainment for the bathroom - and indeed there was a chapter with high relevance to that topic. An index would have been nice too.