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Balance: A Dizzying Journey Through the Science of Our Most Delicate Sense
Some low-frequency sounds—such as noise from storms or truck engines—can make you feel dizzy and nauseated. An index finger’s light touch can stop people from losing balance. You are more prone to trip when you think someone is watching you. A breakthrough in improving balance as we age might just come through the study of the Achilles tendon. A person gets “falling down drunk” due to a tiny structure in the inner ear that floats when it becomes soaked in alcohol.
These and other surprising and useful nuggets of information can be found in this lively, 360-degree exploration of our body’s most intricate, overlooked sense—balance. Readers follow award-winning science and health writer Carol Svec through various facilities as she talks with leading scientists doing state-of-the-art balance research. Svec translates their most fascinating findings for the layperson in a way that is highly entertaining and broadly accessible. She showcases the coolest gadgets used by researchers as she grills an egg in a virtual kitchen, has her senses fooled by a mannequin named Hans in a Tumbling Room, survives “the Vominator” without losing her lunch, and experiences drunken dizziness inside a police muster room. Along the way she cites case studies of people whose lives are affected by balance dysfunction; explains how balance research is being applied today to help those who are ill, elderly, disabled, or simply prone to motion sickness; and provides a glimpse at what ingenious, potentially life-changing advances may be coming down the road.
Whether you have a balance disorder or care about someone who does, are an athlete or performer whose livelihood depends on balance, or just love accessible, page-turning popular science, you’ll be enlightened and entertained by this appreciation of our complex super-sense.
These and other surprising and useful nuggets of information can be found in this lively, 360-degree exploration of our body’s most intricate, overlooked sense—balance. Readers follow award-winning science and health writer Carol Svec through various facilities as she talks with leading scientists doing state-of-the-art balance research. Svec translates their most fascinating findings for the layperson in a way that is highly entertaining and broadly accessible. She showcases the coolest gadgets used by researchers as she grills an egg in a virtual kitchen, has her senses fooled by a mannequin named Hans in a Tumbling Room, survives “the Vominator” without losing her lunch, and experiences drunken dizziness inside a police muster room. Along the way she cites case studies of people whose lives are affected by balance dysfunction; explains how balance research is being applied today to help those who are ill, elderly, disabled, or simply prone to motion sickness; and provides a glimpse at what ingenious, potentially life-changing advances may be coming down the road.
Whether you have a balance disorder or care about someone who does, are an athlete or performer whose livelihood depends on balance, or just love accessible, page-turning popular science, you’ll be enlightened and entertained by this appreciation of our complex super-sense.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2017
9 people are currently reading
486 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 16, 2018
Svec takes a whirling tour through the human vestibular system, and covers proprioception, motion sickness, various balance disorders and diseases, substances that inhibit balance, and how to prevent falls as we age (spoiler: be active - with varied experiences and movement! Try new things!) She channels Mary Roach's pop science style, and largely succeeds, but some of the side commentary and writing style take a small toll. Not everyone can be quite as witty as Roach, but a noble effort.
I read this as an ebook rental, and am considering a hard copy of my own. There was some great information here on the anatomy and mechanics of the inner ear and various disorders that I want to refer back to, check references, and use in my teaching. We are in a constant state of flux - we need balance!
I read this as an ebook rental, and am considering a hard copy of my own. There was some great information here on the anatomy and mechanics of the inner ear and various disorders that I want to refer back to, check references, and use in my teaching. We are in a constant state of flux - we need balance!
September 30, 2019
Content - maybe a 3.0-3.5
Writing style - Can I give negative stars?
In full disclosure, I skimmed the last 50 pages because I lost interest in wading through all the color commentary and that manner of fake enthusiasm, overly-chatty presentation common to daytime talk shows and QVC.
There is a small amount of good information in this book about how balance works and what's going on with the brain and body when balance fails. That part can be found in a more concise form on-line (Vestibular Disorders Association, NIH, Mayo Clinic, etc.) There is also information about current research into various conditions where balance fails. In this book, you will be digging through a lot of fluff to get to the substantive parts.
The current trend among non-fiction writers of using first person and making themselves the center of the material is a conceit I dislike. (Make that "loathe.") I hesitate to shelve this book under "science" because any bits of scientific information were buried under the author's chit-chat about herself: how she went here or there and did this or that, what the weather was like that day, how easily she gets queasy or how her BFF has this or that condition, that this researcher wore a faded polo shirt or carried a red coffee cup or reminded her of Tony Stark. It basically ends up being more about her experiences researching the topic than about the topic. I could not give a rat's ass the color of the scientist's coffee cup or how he/she was "so reserved" and the author couldn't get him/her to "loosen up." I do not care if the scientists drink home-brewed kombucha while wearing diaphanous togas and hulu-hooping. It's irrelevant. (After a while, I started hearing the text I was reading in "up-speak" and in that overly-syrupy tone people use who are forcing office coworkers to look at the millionth picture of their dogs being "just adorable.")
Bottom line: it's an interesting topic that deserves better treatment than it got. I'd like to find a more serious and in-depth book on the topic. preferably one that doesn't assume the average reader is too dumb to grasp basic science and that isn't so packed with fluff.
Writing style - Can I give negative stars?
In full disclosure, I skimmed the last 50 pages because I lost interest in wading through all the color commentary and that manner of fake enthusiasm, overly-chatty presentation common to daytime talk shows and QVC.
There is a small amount of good information in this book about how balance works and what's going on with the brain and body when balance fails. That part can be found in a more concise form on-line (Vestibular Disorders Association, NIH, Mayo Clinic, etc.) There is also information about current research into various conditions where balance fails. In this book, you will be digging through a lot of fluff to get to the substantive parts.
The current trend among non-fiction writers of using first person and making themselves the center of the material is a conceit I dislike. (Make that "loathe.") I hesitate to shelve this book under "science" because any bits of scientific information were buried under the author's chit-chat about herself: how she went here or there and did this or that, what the weather was like that day, how easily she gets queasy or how her BFF has this or that condition, that this researcher wore a faded polo shirt or carried a red coffee cup or reminded her of Tony Stark. It basically ends up being more about her experiences researching the topic than about the topic. I could not give a rat's ass the color of the scientist's coffee cup or how he/she was "so reserved" and the author couldn't get him/her to "loosen up." I do not care if the scientists drink home-brewed kombucha while wearing diaphanous togas and hulu-hooping. It's irrelevant. (After a while, I started hearing the text I was reading in "up-speak" and in that overly-syrupy tone people use who are forcing office coworkers to look at the millionth picture of their dogs being "just adorable.")
Bottom line: it's an interesting topic that deserves better treatment than it got. I'd like to find a more serious and in-depth book on the topic. preferably one that doesn't assume the average reader is too dumb to grasp basic science and that isn't so packed with fluff.
October 17, 2017
My husband went to bed one night and the next morning he couldn't stand up. Just turning his head caused him to vomit. We are nearing the one year anniversary and although he is much improved he occasionally feels "bouncy," his word for when his balance is off. I have also have a friend with vestibular migraines. When one hits--usually when the weather changes--she staggers around like she's drunk and she can't see straight.
Balance is fascinating. It also shows how little we really understand it.
Balance is fascinating. It also shows how little we really understand it.
November 4, 2017
***I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway***
Man, I really hate giving this book 3 stars. It's such an interesting topic, and the author covered a lot of awesome research and managed to explain it well for laypeople. That said, in attempting to keep the book from being too academic, she injected a lot of personal anecdotes and humor. Some of it was amusing, but on the whole it was a distraction and just really felt like she was trying too hard. She made multiple references to some woman named Hoda who apparently is famous? What?
Anyway, I would still recommend this book...it's just got stylistic issues that bugged me.
Man, I really hate giving this book 3 stars. It's such an interesting topic, and the author covered a lot of awesome research and managed to explain it well for laypeople. That said, in attempting to keep the book from being too academic, she injected a lot of personal anecdotes and humor. Some of it was amusing, but on the whole it was a distraction and just really felt like she was trying too hard. She made multiple references to some woman named Hoda who apparently is famous? What?
Anyway, I would still recommend this book...it's just got stylistic issues that bugged me.
May 23, 2018
Have you every wondered why you suddenly tripped over nothing as you are walking down the sidewalk? How about finding you no longer enjoy roller-coasters like you did as a teenager? And then there is the question of why you get nausea riding in a car or at the movies. Well, Carol Svec has answers to these questions and even more you have not thought of yet.
In a style similar to Mary Roach (including funny footnotes), Carol Svec provides a through overview of what balance is and the central role it plays in our lives. She starts with a look at the inner ear's part in keeping us upright and spends time looking at the causes of motion sickness. She then points out that each of us have rocks in our heads that help us know which way is up and which way is down. And she continues with the part played by our eyes in balance. Then proprioception problems are discussed with the case of Ian Waterman. After these discussions of the major components of balance, the books wanders through a number of balance related issues: sound related dizziness, shaky camera movies, flight simulators, virtual reality, and outer space. Carol Svec finishes the book with a look at how kinesiology, virtual reality and exoskeletons can aid in keeping us upright in old age.
Balance provides a quick read through the science of how we stay upright and what the future may hold for us.
In a style similar to Mary Roach (including funny footnotes), Carol Svec provides a through overview of what balance is and the central role it plays in our lives. She starts with a look at the inner ear's part in keeping us upright and spends time looking at the causes of motion sickness. She then points out that each of us have rocks in our heads that help us know which way is up and which way is down. And she continues with the part played by our eyes in balance. Then proprioception problems are discussed with the case of Ian Waterman. After these discussions of the major components of balance, the books wanders through a number of balance related issues: sound related dizziness, shaky camera movies, flight simulators, virtual reality, and outer space. Carol Svec finishes the book with a look at how kinesiology, virtual reality and exoskeletons can aid in keeping us upright in old age.
Balance provides a quick read through the science of how we stay upright and what the future may hold for us.
November 8, 2017
This book was a wonderful journey through our sense of balance. Rather than being one definitive aspect of our being, balance is distributed through three primary sense inputs. There is the semicircular canals of the inner ear, our proprioception, and our vision all contribute to our sense of balance. There are many ways for the sense of balance to be thrown off, but most of them can be done on a shoestring budget. When Carol Svec talks about balance being delicate, she isn't kidding; one input being disrupted can be compensated for, but any more than that and you will fall into a heap on the floor.
Balance is something you don't really even think about until you don't have it. The brain usually orchestrates balance so seamlessly that we don't even have to think about it. You merely adjust your one foot like so and the other foot in another way and you don't topple over. However, proper balance is one of the trickiest things for a robot to do. Most designers get around this by giving it tank treads or more legs to stand on, but a bipedal robot is a dream of mankind. Now we only have to wait and see how long until a robot can stand on two legs. After Checkers, Chess, and Go were conquered, I suppose that might be the next thing for a computer or robot to do.
Balance is something you don't really even think about until you don't have it. The brain usually orchestrates balance so seamlessly that we don't even have to think about it. You merely adjust your one foot like so and the other foot in another way and you don't topple over. However, proper balance is one of the trickiest things for a robot to do. Most designers get around this by giving it tank treads or more legs to stand on, but a bipedal robot is a dream of mankind. Now we only have to wait and see how long until a robot can stand on two legs. After Checkers, Chess, and Go were conquered, I suppose that might be the next thing for a computer or robot to do.
July 17, 2025
My recent vestibular experiences sent me out to find a book for laymen that deals with balance problems, their causes, and recent research. Unfortunately, Mary Roach has not written anything on the subject, so I decided to try Carol Svec. I am pleased with my decision. I found clear explanations about the three parts of the vestibular system, how they function together, and some recent studies to improve vestibular disorders. I have a much better understanding of professional vocabulary and the various areas of medicine needed to get me to the Dizziness and Balance Institute (yes, it’s real and yes, they have been able to help me). I grew fascinated with various research studies described here. My favorite was the exoskeleton, though I think it will be a while before we see technology affordable enough that major rehab facilities will be able to use them. I also came away with useful knowledge about why vestibular dysfunction could be mistaken for drunkenness, but didn’t find any way to explain to an officer that I’m not drunk if I can’t walk in a straight line. Balance is so incredibly complex that our ability to do many things we take for granted is an everyday miracle.
January 2, 2023
A very enjoyable romp through the science of how we human develop & maintain our balance - a surprisingly complex task that still eludes the most advanced 2-legged robots. With humor and wit, Carol explains the complex set of sensorimotor control systems that integrate sensory input from vision (sight), proprioception (touch), and the vestibular system (motion, equilibrium, spatial orientation) to actuate the equally complex set of muscles to make our everyday movement seem effortless. Along the way, she explains why motion sickness occur (sensory input conflict theory), how infrasonic sound (below human audible frequency) like those emitted by wind turbines make us sick, how alcohol makes us tipsy (by diluting the fluid in our vestibular chamber), and why "choking" occurs even to the seasoned sportsman. A timely read especially for someone my age, as I begin to cope with the reality that my ability to balance will continue to degrade as I age, but also heartened to learn of how recent scientific advances (exoskeleton design, light touch theory) will help.
October 13, 2017
Even if you have never wondered about balance, this is a book worth a look. That's because once you start reading it, you'll want to learn more. Carol leads you on all the twists and turns of the path she took as her inquisitive mind sought to learn more about balance. Every answer she finds seems to raise another question ... and she doggedly pursues it. While Carol deals with some scientific concepts, that shouldn't scare the non-scientist away. Complex ideas are brought down to earth with wonderful analogies that put them within the grasp of the average human being. You'll also love the scientists who Carol interviewed for the book. They appear as rounded human beings, not dry footnotes. And throughout the book, there's a touch of humor that makes it a fun read.
February 17, 2018
This was a great book about balance and written well for the non-experts. It explained balance and various disorders related to balance issues. I learned about new advancements in technology that can potentially help us if we have balance disorders and as we age. I however really dislike excessive use of footnotes by the author. It was so much going back and forth between footnotes and text. I also did not think that author was that funny. But maybe it is because I personally have balance issues and had to experience some of the tests authors talks about.
September 28, 2017
A rather fascinating read. I really didn't much know about balance but this book gives an excellent overview that is enlightening and funny. (Some of the footnotes are hilarious. Parts of the text are, too.) The science of balance is just plain cool.
I like knowing that we ARE balance and how all these systems work together. From the Vominator (you'll have to read to find out) to Iron Man to virtual reality, balance is about the amazing way the human body works.
I like knowing that we ARE balance and how all these systems work together. From the Vominator (you'll have to read to find out) to Iron Man to virtual reality, balance is about the amazing way the human body works.
November 9, 2017
Fascinating exploration into balance, vertigo, nausea, and so on. This book does not really offer techniques on improving balance beyond discussing the many many things that can affect one's balance but does give hope that eventually all the research on many levels will lead to improved quality of life for those who suffer. The writing style reminds me of Mary Roach's books, accessible science for the layman.
May 2, 2025
Very well researched and presented material. If you are at all squeamish like I am you may find some parts of the book will make you a bit queasy but it's easy enough to just jump past them as I did.
September 4, 2017
Enjoyable companion to Packing for Mars. About how balance works, when it doesn't, and what can be done to help.
November 14, 2017
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This is a genial voice guiding you through an unusual but important and fascinating topic. I would recommend and lend this book to anyone.
This is a genial voice guiding you through an unusual but important and fascinating topic. I would recommend and lend this book to anyone.
December 12, 2017
Never thought a book about balance could be so entertaining.
February 6, 2018
Informative, entertaining and helpful!
April 11, 2018
Very informative!
May 9, 2019
I found this interesting as a person who gets motion sickness and simulation sickness. It was told and narrated interestingly, but I probably didn't need to know this level of detail on the topic.
May 23, 2019
Balance is very interesting but this book in mainly just odd notes about this poorly understood sense
May 25, 2023
Some interesting parts, more so the first half. But the last bit just dragged on.
May 16, 2024
Well researched. Loved the author's humor.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews