Adventures in Human Being by Gavin FrancisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 6 days on and off
Pages - 252
Publisher - Profile Books Limited
Blurb from Goodreads
We have a lifetime's association with our bodies, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory. In Adventures in Human Being, Gavin Francis leads the reader on a journey through health and illness, offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the secret workings of the heart and the womb; from the pulse of life at the wrist to the unique engineering of the foot. Drawing on his own experiences as a doctor and GP, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over the millennia. If the body is a foreign country, then to practice medicine is to explore new territory. Francis leads the reader on an adventure through what it means to be human. Both a user's guide to the body and a celebration of its elegance, this book will transform the way you think about being alive, whether in sickness or in health.
My Review
I saw this book at the airport and was drawn to the cover, it isn't often I comment on covers but this one pulled me over. The human skeleton with words of body parts etched into the visible parts of the body. Doctor Francis takes us on a trip through the human body, given insights into different parts of the anatomy, workings within the body and to keep it interesting he gives some stories about patients past.
I do enjoy a book where you learn something as you go along, I also like to read about real life human experiences. The human body is an amazing vessel, intricate workings and even when one part fails to work at optimal, the body still continues and compensates, obviously within reason, if your head is removed it is game over.
The only thing I would say is there were a lot of things that people would need to google and in some parts he went off on a tangent or brought in things I didn't feel were always relevant to the section I was reading. I would have loved more of the personal stories and maybe some more laymen terms however overall an engaging read where you can learn a few things about the fabulous human body. 4/5 for me this time, this author does have other works available that I will at some point track down, I won't be rushing out to get the back catalog just yet though.
This sound very interesting.
ReplyDeleteFor this type of book I do not usually mind if the author goes off on a tangent. I find that science related tangents are often fascinating.