Human Physiology

by Kenneth Walker

Most of us know too little of the way our bodies work, and are liable in that state of comparative ignorance to become the victims of groundless anxieties about ourselves. In this compact and authoritative survey Mr Kenneth Walker sets forth in plain language the most up-to-date knowledge on the functioning of the human body, and reminds us too how profoundly the mind influences the working of the body.

Starting from the cell, the basis of human as of all life, he describes the nature and work of the digestive, circulatory, excretory, locomotor and nervous systems: the part that food plays in our lives; how we breathe: the functions of the special senses and the physiology of sensation; the chemistry of the body and the glandular system; and the processes of reproduction. A number of sketches in the text illustrate special points.

This book, specially written for the Pelican series, is now in its second large printing.

169 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in the same year as the first penicillin therapies, this short introductory text to physiology is now dated in diverse and amusing ways. In some fields little has changed - the legs still branch off the head, the heart is in the knees, etc. - but in others there has been so much change between then and now that it is hard to appreciate. Neuroanatomy, neurology, endocrinology, molecular biology - the entire field of genetics has been re-written - the list goes on. In knowledge of systems, diseases and most dramatically in treatments, medical technology has changed incredibly. If I were to return to 1942 and explain the things now known to the author he would ask how much I'd been drinking.

Recommended to those with an interest in medical history, or curious to see the changes in approach since 1942 to all things physiological and to a lesser extent medical.