Its subject is how we think about the body. In this era of intense
research into the human genome, synthetic biology, consciousness and so
on, it might almost seem that our physical bodies do not matter. But
they do. It is through them that we negotiate the world and each other,
and the ways in which we have understood the human body and its
constituent parts continue to shape our views of science, medicine, and
ourselves in surprising ways.
Anatomies by Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of Sunday Times bestseller
Periodic Tales, is a splendidly entertaining journey through the art,
science, literature and history of the human body. "Magnificent,
inspired. He writes like a latter-day Montaigne. Stimulating scientific
hypotheses, bold philosophic theories, illuminating quotations and
curious facts. I recommend it to all". (Telegraph). "Splendid, highly
entertaining, chock-full of insights ...It inserts fascinating
scientific snippets and anecdotes about our organs into the wider
history of our changing understanding of our bodies". (Sunday Times). "A
relentlessly entertaining cultural history of the human body ...brims
with fascinating details, infectious enthusiasm ...the terrain he covers
is so richly brought to life". (Guardian). "Elegant and
informative...For Aldersey-Williams, [the body] is a thing of wonder and
a repository of fascinating facts". (Mail on Sunday). It is the most
fraught and fascinating, talked-about and taboo, unique yet universal
aspect of our lives. It is the inspiration for art, the subject of
science and the source of some of the greatest stories ever told.
It is our most intimate ally against the world, provider of all
pleasurable sensations, the repository of all we feel and know. And yet
what a source of puzzlement and worry the body is: a home we never
chose, a facade that we continually disguise, a protector that we know
will fail us in the end. Until we fall ill, most of us take this
extraordinarily complicated collection of flesh, bones and fluids
entirely for granted. But from ancient body art to plastic surgery, from
early anatomists to conceptual artists, grave-robbers to bionic
athletes, our changing attitudes to the human body - how it works, what
it should look like, how to live with it, what it means - tell us more
about ourselves than almost any other subject in human history.
Blending history, science, art, literature and the everyday, one of our
finest science writers investigates this most marvellous and mysterious
of creations.
The result is a treasure trove of surprising facts, remarkable stories
and startling information that encompasses everything from the first
finger-printing to the physiology of angels, from synaesthesia to the
clown-egg register, from the death-mask of Isaac Newton to the afterlife
of Einstein's brain. Praise for Periodic Tales: "Science writing at its
best ...fascinating and beautiful ...if only chemistry had been like
this at school ...to meander through the periodic table with him ...is
like going round a zoo with Gerald Durrell ...a rich compilation of
delicious tales, but it offers greater rewards, too". (Matt Ridley).
"Immensely engaging and continually makes one sit up in -surprise".
(Sunday Times). "Splendid ...enjoyable and polished". (Observer). "Full
of good stories and he knows how to tell them well ...an agreeable
jumble of anecdote, reflection and information". (Sunday Telegraph).
"Great fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable
anecdotes ...sharp and often witty". (Financial Times). Hugh
Aldersey-Williams studied natural sciences at Cambridge.
He is the author of several books exploring science, design and
architecture and has curated exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert
Museum and the Wellcome Collection. His previous book Periodic Tales:
The Curious Lives of the Elements was a Sunday Times bestseller and has
been published in many languages around the world. He lives in Norfolk
with his wife and son.
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