Living with the Stars: How the Human Body is Connected to the Life Cycles of the Earth, the Planets, and the Stars

by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver

Living with the Stars tells the fascinating story of what truly makes the human body. The body that is with us all our lives is always changing. We are quite literally not who we were years, weeks, or even days our cells die and are replaced by new ones at an astonishing pace. The entire body continually rebuilds itself, time and again, using the food and water that flow through us as fuel and as construction material. What persists over time is notfixed but merely a pattern in flux.We rebuild using elements captured from our surroundings, and are thereby connected to animals and plants around us, and to the bacteria within us that help digest them, and to geological processes such as continental drift and volcanism here on Earth. We are also intimately linked to the Sun's nuclear furnace and to the solar wind, to collisions with asteroids and to the cycles of the birth of stars and their deaths in cataclysmic supernovae, and ultimately to the beginning of the universe.Our bodies are made of the burned out embers of stars that were released into the galaxy in massive explosions billions of years ago, mixed with atoms that formed only recently as ultrafast rays slammed into Earth's atmosphere. All of that is not just remote history but part of us our human bodyis inseparable from nature all around us and intertwined with the history of the universe.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2014

About the author

KAREL SCHRIJVER is an astrophysicist studying the magnetism of stars, in particular of the nearest star, our life-enabling Sun. Together with his wife, a physician, he wrote "Living with the stars", about the connections between the human body and the Universe. The discovery of exoplanets and the unfolding of fascinating insights into distant worlds triggered his popular science work "One of ten billion Earths".

His most recent book, "The White Prison," is a first-contact sci-fi novel. In this standalone sequel to the author's IMMERSION, astronauts inhabit a comfortable AI-generated world while they explore the hostile real-world setting of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Once they learn to communicate with the alien life form, they find striking parallels between the Enceladeans and themselves. When the probe's crew discovers the foundation of Enceladus' ecosystem, they have to decide how to protect Earth and Enceladus from greed, destruction, and all-out war.

Visit my website for a chance for a free copy of the audio version of his first sci-fi book: IMMERSION (US/UK only).

He lives and works near Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Raha Shafaei]

منشا تمامی مواد روی زمین انفجارهای کیهانی بوده‌ است که میلیاردها سال پیش رخ داده و بدن انسان همواره در چرخه‌ای از فروپاشی و نوسازی قرار گرفته‌ است. به گفته این دو دانشمند، جمله ی مشهور “ما از گرد و غبار ستارگان ساخته شده ایم”، کاملا براساس واقعیت گفته شده،‌ زیرا هر چیزی که در جهان هستی و زمین وجود دارد از غبارهای ستارگان ایجاد شده‌اند، غبارهایی که هنوز هم در همه‌ جا شناور هستند. این غبارها انسان‌ها را مستقیما به جهان وصل می‌کنند و دوره‌های مختلف زندگی بدن انسان را بازسازی می‌کنند.

http://bigbangpage.com/?p=24483

.

[Simon Worrall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book by a husband and wife team I had the pleasure of interviewing for National Geographic's Book Talk, which I curate: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ne...

[Roy McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely read a book more than once but this book is an exception. I have just finished my *third* reading and I still find it just as fascinating as I did after my first read many years ago. The husband and wife team of Karel and Iris Schrivjer, he an astrophysicist and she a physician, bring their respective expertise to bear on this unique exploration of what it means to be human, our relationship to the world around us, and how each of us are directly connected to the greater workings of the Universe. Not (or at least not primarily) in the spiritual or metaphysical sense, but in a very tangible and scientific sense. For example, did you know that nearly every atom in your body has its origin in the fiery furnace of an exploding star and that all of ‘your’ atoms have been getting ‘recycled’ again and again for billions of years until they finally found there way to you? And did you know that the human body is a truly transitory and impermanent vessel? Not only in the broad sense associated with the human lifecycle of birth and death but also in the sense that the human body is constantly regenerating itself at the cellular level using “building materials” (i.e. atoms) from the surrounding environment. This regenerative process is so intense that, as the authors point out, we “purge and regenerate a cell mass that is about as large as our body weight every year of our lives, involving millions of cells every second.” In a very real and biological sense, you are not who you were last month, last week, in the last 24 hours, or even in the last second. There are many more interesting tidbits like this throughout the book. A fascinating and enjoyable read.

[SAURABH GUPTA · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Living with the Stars" by Karel Schrijver is a fascinating exploration of the intricate connections between the human body and the cosmos. Schrijver's interdisciplinary approach weaves together astronomy, biology, and Earth science, revealing our profound relationship with the universe. A captivating read that deepens our understanding of our place in the cosmos.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff! The power of forever changing. Embracing bacterias and allowing our vehicle to repair, replace, and even rebuild. And betelgeuse...

[Elizabeth A McNeill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book for everyone to read. It will challenge you and inspire you!

[Yasmin-marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read! It is science heavy but easy to understand. Some great facts and takeaways from this book. Would recommend this as a great nonfiction read.