The human being is a miraculous entity. If you stop for a second to contemplate its complexity, the millions of chemical reactions going on every split second or how a grey, rather gelatinous structure enables you to read this book review, and makes you YOU, it can get quite mind blowing.
Adventures in Human Being was on the Sunday Times bestseller list for some time. At its most basic, it could be described as an alternative anatomy book, but it is much more. It takes you on a journey of your body describing the nature and function of various parts in a way that encompasses what it is to ‘be’ human. It mixes anatomical fact with a series of stories about the body in sickness and in health. These stories are taken from Francis’s own experiences as a doctor which he then skilfully intertwines with historical accounts including stories from and about Leonardo Da Vinci, Greek philosophers, Darwin, Homer and more. This combination of anatomical and historical fact and story telling is intriguing, hugely informative and occasionally humorous. A section in the chapter on the pelvis made me laugh. Apparently vibrators were invented for the treatment of women suffering from ‘hysteria’. They even had fittings to enable them to be driven by a home sewing machine!
There are sections on the Brain; Head; Chest; Upper limb; Abdomen; Pelvis and Lower Limb. Each of these is further broken up to cover specific anatomical structures such as the eye, heart, liver and shoulder. I love the paragraph that describes light entering your eyes as being made up of photons that ‘were born just eight and a half minutes ago, through nuclear fusion in the core of the sun.’ It then goes on to describe how those photons would have streaked past Mercury and Venus and how this gives you a connection with the sun and the stars. Wow! I’ve never really thought about it like this before.
Gavin Francis didn’t want to be a doctor as a child. He wanted to be a geographer exploring maps and images. He combines both well in this fascinating book which I thoroughly enjoyed and learnt some great snippets of information from.
I didn’t know, for example, that artificial joints can be recycled after death and turned into ‘precision parts for the engineering of satellites, wind turbines and aeroplane engines’. How wonderful is that? First they give a new lease of life and mobility to humans and when that job is done the high specification materials can be melted down and used again.
I was particularly struck by the section on transplants and the wonderful quote, ‘Nothing that ends in a gift will end in nothing.’ It’s a wonderfully thought provoking quote which we could all do well to ponder over in all aspects of life.
This is a book that certainly makes you look at yourself from a different perspective. All those functions going on in the background, out of your awareness. It really makes you appreciate the true miracle that is YOU.
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