Bodyology

Ever wondered what it's like to be hit by lightning or to lose your sense of smell? Heard about the woman saved by bee stings - or the window cleaner who survived a 400ft fall?

Originally written for the mosaicscience.com site run by the Wellcome charity, these 16 stories by leading science writers explore the mysteries of the human body. Learn about everything from diets to allergies, hair colour to rare blood, and from allergies to remote surgery.

Contents

• What's it like to be struck by lightning?
• Why do we colour hair?
• The man with the golden blood
• Why dieters can't rely on calories
• 3D printers can now make body parts
• How to fall from a skyscraper and live to tell the tale
• The quest to explain miscarriages
• Seeking a 'cure' for male baldness
• How bee stings saved a woman's life
• The global trend for 'kangaroo' babies
• What it means to lose your sense of smell
• The doctor aiming to end eye pain
• Could allergies be a defence against noxious chemicals?
• Why business is going slow on the male pill
• How virtual reality headsets aid remote surgery
• Shhh! What exactly is the menopause?

It's a good sign when you pick up a book intending to read one chapter and end up reading three. It's very moreish. This is because it's made up of short, self-contained articles, originally published on a website. Often an edited collection of articles by different authors suggests a boring read, but here the articles are good pieces of journalism with plenty to interest the reader.

The topics are all vaguely human body related, but thankfully not all medical (not my favourite subject) - so, for example, as well as stories of a person cured of Lyme disease by bee stings or a piece on miscarriages we get topics like the effects on the body of being struck by lightning or falling from a high place. Even some more explicitly health-related matters, such as the impact of losing your sense of smell, were engaging enough to get me past my medical squeamishness.

• Brian Clegg, science writer

Auteur

Mosaic Science is a project founded by the health charity Wellcome to popularise high-quality science writing.

Mosaic has published dozens of stories exploring the science people care about.

Canbury Press has curated these stories into two books, Bodyology: The Curious Science of Our Bodies (ISBN *9780995497863) and *Brainology: The Curious Science of Our Minds (ISBN 9781912454006).

Contenu

Contents

• What's it like to be struck by lightning? - Charlotte Huff
• Why do we colour hair? - Rebecca Guenard
• The man with the golden blood - Penny Bailey
• Why dieters can't rely on calories - Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley
• 3D printers can now make body parts - Ian Birrell
• How to fall from a skyscraper and live to tell the tale - Neil Steinberg
• The quest to explain miscarriages - Holly Cave
• Can the power of thought outwit ageing? - Jo Marchant
• Seeking a 'cure' for male baldness - Rhodri Marsden
• How bee stings saved a woman's life - Christie Wilcox
• The global trend for 'kangaroo' babies - Lena Corner
• What it means to lose your sense of smell - Emma Young
• The doctor aiming to end eye pain - Bryn Nelson
• Could allergies be a defence against noxious chemicals? - Carl Zimmer
• Why pharma may be going slow on the male pill - Andy Extance
• How virtual reality headsets aid remote surgery - Jo Marchant
• Shhh! What exactly is the menopause? - Rose George