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The Intellectual Devotional Health: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Digest a Daily Dose of Wellness Wisdom
In this fourth installment of the New York Times bestselling Intellectual Devotional series, authors Noah Oppenheim and David Kidder have partnered with Bruce K. Young, MD, to offer a year's worth of medical knowledge and wellness wisdom. Each daily dose in this infectious volume offers insight into the mysterious terrain of the human body and the factors that impact its constitution. Drawn from seven diverse categories, including lifestyle and preventive medicine; the mind; medical milestones; drugs and alternative treatments; sexuality and reproduction; diseases and ailments; and children and adolescents, these 365 entries are as informative as they are functional. From aspirin to the x-ray, headaches to Hippocrates, Viagra to influenza, The Intellectual Health will revive the mind and rejuvenate the body. Sure to please devoted intellectuals and newcomers alike, this timely volume sheds new light on an endlessly fascinating ourselves.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2009
63 people are currently reading
699 people want to read
About the author
David S. Kidder
20 books51 followersBorn in Upstate New York, David S. Kidder is a serial entrepreneur with a wide range of operational, technology, and marketing expertise focused on online product development and Internet advertising and marketing. He is currently co-Founder and serves as CEO of Clickable, an online advertising web service. Prior to Clickable, Kidder co-founded SmartRay Network, a mobile advertising delivery pioneer acquired by LifeMinders. Prior to SmartRay, he founded Net-X which was acquired by TargetVision. Kidder and his companies have appeared in publications and periodicals such as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, and TechCrunch, among others.
Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a recipient of ID Magazine's International Design Award. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two sons.
Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a recipient of ID Magazine's International Design Award. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
October 12, 2018
only checking this off now so that i don’t forget at the end of the year!! *trying desperately to reach my reading goal, can’t risk forgetting a book*
December 31, 2021
Probably my favorite of the Intellectual Devotional series.
December 23, 2022
I like the history version of this. Like the idea of something short to read daily. I did not like this thought because it was a lot of just listing of diseases and things that can go wrong with you. Not very uplifting to start a day. Don’t recommend.
April 4, 2019
Interesting nonfiction series, giving you a page a day of information about a broad topic.
Drawn from seven diverse categories, including lifestyle and preventive medicine; the mind; medical milestones; drugs and alternative treatments; sexuality and reproduction; diseases and ailments; and children and adolescents, these 365 entries are as informative as they are functional.
Some are interesting, some way above my head or interest level. Some topics familiar some obscure and never heard of before.
They give the first ambulance in NYC in 1869. vitamin D. Jonas Salk & Albert Sabin on polio. pleurisy. acupuncture, macrobiotic diet, phlebitis, Lyme disease, hirsutism (bearded ladies), MAO inhibitors. random stuff. Just one page each.
I didn't read it one page a day because it's a library book and I have to return it. It's often interesting bedtime reading but you have to pick well the one you stop on.
I liked the ones on popular culture and American history better, but this is good too.
Drawn from seven diverse categories, including lifestyle and preventive medicine; the mind; medical milestones; drugs and alternative treatments; sexuality and reproduction; diseases and ailments; and children and adolescents, these 365 entries are as informative as they are functional.
Some are interesting, some way above my head or interest level. Some topics familiar some obscure and never heard of before.
They give the first ambulance in NYC in 1869. vitamin D. Jonas Salk & Albert Sabin on polio. pleurisy. acupuncture, macrobiotic diet, phlebitis, Lyme disease, hirsutism (bearded ladies), MAO inhibitors. random stuff. Just one page each.
I didn't read it one page a day because it's a library book and I have to return it. It's often interesting bedtime reading but you have to pick well the one you stop on.
I liked the ones on popular culture and American history better, but this is good too.
December 31, 2022
This is the fifth of these compendia I have read, and I saved this for last (being a physician).
I thought that, like the others, this was a nice collection of short essays describing a wide variety of aspects of health and medicine. Of course, it is tough for a book to stay current with the pace of change of modern medicine, and things described as "new techniques" are now commonplace.
I think the book wouyld be particularly interesting to someone who likes health and medicine but has not had formal training. It could draw younger readers into careers in health care, perhaps?
I thought that, like the others, this was a nice collection of short essays describing a wide variety of aspects of health and medicine. Of course, it is tough for a book to stay current with the pace of change of modern medicine, and things described as "new techniques" are now commonplace.
I think the book wouyld be particularly interesting to someone who likes health and medicine but has not had formal training. It could draw younger readers into careers in health care, perhaps?
Currently reading
September 3, 2017This is a great gap filler if you have kids in school (and if you see any value in knowing a little about a lot of things). It's a fun book to thumb through, especially for young kids or teenagers. The big gap filled is the time line on major world events and intellectual/political movements. Often history is taught in lessons that give depth, but not breadth--the lessons don't always tell kids where these events fell on the full time line of recorded history.
February 17, 2020
Great book with a lot of interesting information about our health
December 21, 2021
Just enough information to keep you interested.
December 22, 2012
This is my second "Intellectual Devotional." I've always loved the idea of learning at least one fact a day, and these books are made for just that purpose. Each of these books has 365 pages, and the idea is that you will read a page a day. This particular book was about health and the medical field. Some of the entries were shocking, some of them were boring, and some of them were just gross. A random sample of entries includes blood clotting, cholesterol, taste, memory, trans fat, chlamydia, vaccination, prozac, dreams, colonoscopy, and neurosis.
One of the big take-aways from this book is the importance of the heart. Wow, take care of your ticker or it's going to kill you. That's a guarantee. Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure. Ouch. Better stop eating this pizza and go for a jog. I found that reading my page a day was much better done in the morning then at night. Reading this book at night would often lead me to contemplate my own mortality, which, when you are in the process of falling asleep, can actually feel like dying (I'm slipping away, Oh no!). Then, if you are like me, you bolt upright in bed, breathing quickly, panting really, and you can't get back to sleep for an hour or two.
Also, don't try to read this book faster than 1 page a day. It's dense and, if anyone can read more than five pages of this book as a time, he/she deserves an award for attention span.
One of the big take-aways from this book is the importance of the heart. Wow, take care of your ticker or it's going to kill you. That's a guarantee. Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure. Ouch. Better stop eating this pizza and go for a jog. I found that reading my page a day was much better done in the morning then at night. Reading this book at night would often lead me to contemplate my own mortality, which, when you are in the process of falling asleep, can actually feel like dying (I'm slipping away, Oh no!). Then, if you are like me, you bolt upright in bed, breathing quickly, panting really, and you can't get back to sleep for an hour or two.
Also, don't try to read this book faster than 1 page a day. It's dense and, if anyone can read more than five pages of this book as a time, he/she deserves an award for attention span.
February 3, 2016
The Intellectual Devotional Health is the fourth of the series of books written by David S. Kidder. This book holds 365 entries from seven fields of medical knowledge. These entries vary from information on diseases and medicine to information about doctors and scientists that have contributed and revolutionalized the medical field.
The various entries on this book are written in a manner in which the person reading it gets a good amount of information without having to read an immense amount of pages. As a matter of fact, each entry doesn't surpass one page, which is ideal if you are a person that doesn't like reading an extraneous amount of pages.
This book really did entertain me. Not only was the small amount of reading appealing to me, but the various amount of entries really interested me. My mindset before I read the book was that it was going to be some boring book that is going to have boringly redundant information. So in a way you can say that the book surpassed my expectations. I strongly feel that there is nothing the author could have done to improve this book, it is great as it is.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a curious mind that wants to lean more about medicine and it's history. After reading this book, I have been motivated to read the other books in the series the author wrote.
The various entries on this book are written in a manner in which the person reading it gets a good amount of information without having to read an immense amount of pages. As a matter of fact, each entry doesn't surpass one page, which is ideal if you are a person that doesn't like reading an extraneous amount of pages.
This book really did entertain me. Not only was the small amount of reading appealing to me, but the various amount of entries really interested me. My mindset before I read the book was that it was going to be some boring book that is going to have boringly redundant information. So in a way you can say that the book surpassed my expectations. I strongly feel that there is nothing the author could have done to improve this book, it is great as it is.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a curious mind that wants to lean more about medicine and it's history. After reading this book, I have been motivated to read the other books in the series the author wrote.
May 17, 2011
"In this fourth installment of the New York Times best-selling Intellectual Devotional series, authors Noah Oppenheim and David Kidder have partnered with Bruce K. Young, MD, to offer a year’s worth of medical knowledge and wellness wisdom. Each daily dose in this infectious volume offers insight into the mysterious terrain of the human body and the factors that impact its constitution.
Drawn from seven diverse categories, including lifestyle and preventive medicine; the mind; medical milestones; drugs and alternative treatments; sexuality and reproduction; diseases and ailments; and children and adolescents, these 365 entries are as informative as they are functional. From aspirin to the x-ray, headaches to Hippocrates, Viagra to influenza, The Intellectual Devotional: Health will revive the mind and rejuvenate the body. Sure to please devoted intellectuals and newcomers alike, this timely volume sheds new light on an endlessly fascinating subject: ourselves."
Not as well written as many of the earlier books in this series, but informative and brought me up-to-date in a nuber of health issues.
Drawn from seven diverse categories, including lifestyle and preventive medicine; the mind; medical milestones; drugs and alternative treatments; sexuality and reproduction; diseases and ailments; and children and adolescents, these 365 entries are as informative as they are functional. From aspirin to the x-ray, headaches to Hippocrates, Viagra to influenza, The Intellectual Devotional: Health will revive the mind and rejuvenate the body. Sure to please devoted intellectuals and newcomers alike, this timely volume sheds new light on an endlessly fascinating subject: ourselves."
Not as well written as many of the earlier books in this series, but informative and brought me up-to-date in a nuber of health issues.
October 1, 2016
It took us almost a year to finish The Intellectual Devotional: Health, eleven months to be exact. We started on October 20, 2015 and finished the last week in September 2016. My husband and I have read several of the books in the Intellectual Devotional series. I have to say that this was our least favorite, so far. Each week was divided into seven topics: Children and Adolescents; Diseases and Ailments; Drugs and Alternative Treatments; The Mind; Sexuality and Reproduction; Lifestyle and Preventative Medicine; and Medical Milestones. The reading was dry at times, and totally gross at others. However, as with all of the Intellectual Devotionals, it gave us a shared reading and something different to discuss. We also learned a little along the way. We’re on to Intellectual Devotional: American History, and then we will have read the entire series. Definitely good books for shared reading!
January 11, 2014
Remember those daily devotional for religion same thing. But for those who what something to ponder on the way home. I got this book last. I have hardback and kindle versions of these books. I stuffed notes and research items in the hardbacks. I can add notes to my kindle versions. I enjoy them and since my kindle goes everywhere with me. I always have something to read. I have a harder time with this book than the others. I think it's me not the writers or the editors.
May 3, 2023
Overall, this book acts as a healthcare/medicine primer. As someone who studies medicine, this book was mildly enlightening, but still an enjoyable read. This book appears to be aimed for readers that are new to medicine/healthcare. It does not provide much for those working in healthcare. I prefer the original Intellectual Devotional over this one.
November 14, 2009
THE smartest book I ever read. (so far)
Want to read
October 29, 2009day 4, 361 more to go!
December 24, 2014
These are great... But this one was my least favorite.
Just sayin...
Just sayin...
April 19, 2015
I am enjoying this book.
January 1, 2015
I learned a lot
October 1, 2015
Enjoyed reading this "religiously" every morning. Now that I'm done, I need a new ritual to fill my morning void.
May 1, 2016
essentially an encyclopedia.
November 2, 2009
Why read it over an entire year when you can read it in a day?
January 14, 2010
really interesting information!! casually presented as well, so it's a fun read
March 9, 2010
A year full of fodder for my family of hypochondriacs.
May 21, 2019
Awesome
April 2, 2017
Interesting
Read
July 13, 2018An interesting explanation of various health-related topics. Each article is one page long.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews