Secrets of the Human Body - Softcover

Van Tullekin, Chris; Van Tulleken, Xand; Cohen, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0228100321 ISBN 13: 9780228100324

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2017

Synopsis

An exciting visual guide to the unseen and unknown wonders of the human body.

206 bones. Ten fingers. Two eyes. One heart. We may think we know the human body, but it turns to hold a lot of surprises.

Published to coincide with a major new prime time BBC series, this specially commissioned book combines cutting-edge science with cutting-edge technology to present the human body as we've never seen before. Pioneering specialist photography and digital effects allow readers to catch a tantalizing glimpse beneath our skin, leading to wondrous discovery of the secrets that make every ordinary human body ... extraordinary.

What makes tears of joy different from tears of sadness? Why is a gut feeling so much smarter than you think? And why is 90 percent of you not even human?

We may think we know the human body -- heart, lungs, brain and bones -- but it's time we think again. The human body is full of extraordinary mysteries that science is only just beginning to understand. This exciting book -- packed front to back with color photographs and illustrations, clear text, cut-away drawings, fascinating facts, stories of the latest and most exciting medical discoveries -- turns our knowledge of the human body on its head. It leads us through all of the revelations revealed by the latest technology and the stories of everyday miracles.

About this title

About the Author

Chris van Tulleken and Xand van Tulleken are doctors active at the forefront of HIV research, medicine in war zones and the Ebola epidemic. Chris van Tulleken has worked on many programs, including Trust Me, I'm a Doctor; Cloud Lab; Museum of Life; and Blizzard: Race to the Pole. Xand van Tulleken has presented numerous shows for the BBC and Channel 4, and has contributed medical analysis on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera America, MSNBC, and Fox 5 New York among others.

Andrew Cohen is Head of the BBC Science Unit and the Executive Producer of the BBC series Secrets of the Human Body. He has been responsible for a wide range of science documentaries including Horizon; the Wonders trilogy; Stargazing Live and Human Universe.

Review

The first and most striking characteristic of Secrets of the Human Body is the abundance, diversity, and vividness of the illustrations. Indeed, of the 251 pages, only 89 of them are not illustrated with some photo, graph, or drawing. If a picture is in fact worth a thousand words, the book would potentially be hundreds of pages longer without them. The authors present a thoughtfully concise exploration of the wonders of the human body, dividing their text into the subsections "Secrets" (an introduction), "Grow," "Learn," "Survive," and "Future." The introductory section explores the complexity of the human body, including the number and variation of microbes it contains. "Grow" compares rates of growth for human and nonhuman species and examines brain development; "Learn" considers language, memory, movement, and association. "Survive" describes human anatomical and physiological adaptations to the environment, and "Future" proposes where we go from here. The tone of the writing is
engaging and conversational--two of the authors are twin brothers--and will interest a wide range of readers; this is an enjoyable, accessible addition to any collection... Recommended. All readers. (L. A. Meserve Choice Magazine 2018-06-01)

This beautiful and imaginative work, published as a companion to a BBC documentary series of the same title, combines gorgeous photography and digital effects with scientific detail to give readers new and illuminating views of the human body... The book is a roller-coaster exploration of the body with stunning illustrations and extraordinary revelations throughout that should appeal to general readers. (Publishers Weekly 2018-05-07)

The human body is a beautiful and mysterious thing. Twin-brother physicians Chris and Xand van Tulleken and BBC Science Unit head Cohen have produced a beautifully illustrated tour of the body to accompany the BBC program Secrets of the Human Body. This is not a traditional anatomy and physiology book. Using modern imaging techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, and x-rays as well as color photographs, graphs, and charts, they examine the workings of the body in broad terms: grow (reproduction, aging), learn (the nervous system, education, psychology), survive (circulation, respiration, immunity), future (new research to improve life). The book is both informative and engaging. It is an excellent addition to public and consumer-health library collections. (Barbara Bibel Booklist 2017-12-01)

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0228100321
• ISBN 13: 9780228100324
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256