What do you think?
Rate this book
The Human Body
"A mouth-dropping guide to the human body...from skin to skeleton, muscles to nerves...A steal at any price; highly recommended". -- Library Journal "Fabulous..". -- Detroit Free Press
-- RASD/ALA 1996 Outstanding Reference Sources
-- RASD/ALA 1996 Outstanding Reference Sources
240 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1995
4 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 5, 2018
"The human body, like that of every other living creature, has one prime biological function - to reproduce itself and ensure the survival of its offspring."
Now that my body has actually executed this function (last year), I fully understand the depth of this quote from the book. However, this is not why I picked up this book.
Strolling around in the public library one day, I stopped by to check the health section. There my eyes were caught by the Anatomy rack and this book. Since long, I've been wanting to read something on lines of a book which gives a general introduction to all body organs and their ailments. And voila! This book turned out to be perfect for that purpose.
The biology I learned in middle and high school was so primitive (and boring) that I am amazed that I found this detailed biology book fascinating. Or maybe, now my mind is actually interested in learning about what all body parts/organs do and how they do it and how they can go wrong. As I'm aging every year, I'm getting more and more interested in learning how my body works and how can I keep it working. :D
As this book reveals, our body is really an exceptionally well-designed machine that exploits basic fundamentals of mechanical and electrical engineering. The flow of blood, the passage of food, the transmittance of neural signals - everything is optimized for efficiency and survival. On top of learning very basic processes like how bones form/heal or how digestion occurs, you learn about all the common disorders and diseases you can catch in your lifetime. For e.g., I did not know that excess of alcohol intake could, over the long term, badly screw up your liver (cirrhosis) which I think is a good enough motivation for not drinking. You often hear about people undergoing dialysis or having a pacemaker installed or getting a kidney transplant or getting a hip replacement - but you know never know how exactly these medical innovations work. Well, after reading this book, you at least get to know the basics.
All in all, I now know much more than what I knew a month ago about the human body and I've major respect for surgeons out there.
Final Verdict : Anybody with an iota of curiosity will certainly enjoy the detailed illustrations and info in this book. There is little entertainment to be found but it will be good for you if you're in a mood for sucking up tons of knowledge.
Now that my body has actually executed this function (last year), I fully understand the depth of this quote from the book. However, this is not why I picked up this book.
Strolling around in the public library one day, I stopped by to check the health section. There my eyes were caught by the Anatomy rack and this book. Since long, I've been wanting to read something on lines of a book which gives a general introduction to all body organs and their ailments. And voila! This book turned out to be perfect for that purpose.
The biology I learned in middle and high school was so primitive (and boring) that I am amazed that I found this detailed biology book fascinating. Or maybe, now my mind is actually interested in learning about what all body parts/organs do and how they do it and how they can go wrong. As I'm aging every year, I'm getting more and more interested in learning how my body works and how can I keep it working. :D
As this book reveals, our body is really an exceptionally well-designed machine that exploits basic fundamentals of mechanical and electrical engineering. The flow of blood, the passage of food, the transmittance of neural signals - everything is optimized for efficiency and survival. On top of learning very basic processes like how bones form/heal or how digestion occurs, you learn about all the common disorders and diseases you can catch in your lifetime. For e.g., I did not know that excess of alcohol intake could, over the long term, badly screw up your liver (cirrhosis) which I think is a good enough motivation for not drinking. You often hear about people undergoing dialysis or having a pacemaker installed or getting a kidney transplant or getting a hip replacement - but you know never know how exactly these medical innovations work. Well, after reading this book, you at least get to know the basics.
All in all, I now know much more than what I knew a month ago about the human body and I've major respect for surgeons out there.
Final Verdict : Anybody with an iota of curiosity will certainly enjoy the detailed illustrations and info in this book. There is little entertainment to be found but it will be good for you if you're in a mood for sucking up tons of knowledge.
April 26, 2014
After reading this, you will never think about yourself the same way again. It's creepy how much stuff is going on in our bodies every minute. And all of it can go wrong at any time. And we have control over pretty much none of it. Yeesh.
Cool diagrams, interesting info. Most of this I found overly complex and not very friendly for the layman, but I definitely learned some things and am glad I read it all.
Cool diagrams, interesting info. Most of this I found overly complex and not very friendly for the layman, but I definitely learned some things and am glad I read it all.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews