The Body Book [Paperback]

Sara Stein (Author)

Book Description

Sara Stein is a science writer with a special gift: to "explain things in ways that kids can relate to and turn science into an adventure" (Los Angeles Times).

Crammed with facts, statistics, connections, and explanations, The Body Book is the fascinating and dramatic story of who we are, from the perilous journey of sperm to egg-the only human cell visible to the naked eye-to the human brain, product of more than 3 billion years of evolution that began with a bacteria's ability to judge between sweet and sour.

Explaining the digestive system as a molecular disassembly line and the liver as the body's primary environmental protection agency, the book details how all ingredients for life are recycled, how vaccines work, how tears actually "wash away" sadness, why injured areas become warm, and why crash diets fail (they actually hone the body's fat-storing skills). Throughout the book are amazing figures: the 2,000 square feet of surface area from mouth to sphincter, the 500 million cells that fall off our skin daily, and the mere gram of pigment difference between "black" and "white." Complementing the prose are over 300 detailed illustrations and 150 black-and-white photographs. Suitable for ages 11-14. 37,000 copies in print.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-- More than most readers ever wanted to know about certain aspects of the human body explored in a random sequence. The text begins with a section called ``Stuff,'' where the first chapter, ``Taking Shape,'' offers 19 pages on the sequence of events from conception to birth. One hundred and fifty pages later, in the ``Guts'' section, ``The Inside Sea'' chapter includes information on the reproductive system. Menstruation, however, appears in the ``Organic Government'' chapter of the ``Senses'' section. ``Stuff'' also includes ``All-weather Outerwear,'' which discusses the skin, hair, warts, zits, ``the scent of sex,'' and ``budding out,'' which is breast development. Here, Stein says that milk glands gradually grow as breasts develop, but that ``pouches'' that produce the milk don't grow until pregnancy. Yet back in ``Taking Shape,'' she states that the placenta secretes ``hormones that grow the milk glands in the mother's breasts.'' Rounding out ``Stuff'' are ``Body Building,'' which covers skin and bones, and ``Flesh and Fat,'' which discusses bones, muscles and dieting. ``Guts,'' encompasses digestion and elimination, with chapters entitled ``Puke,'' ``Pushin' on Out,'' and other equally descriptive titles. Finally, the section called ``Senses'' is an umbrella for explanations of senses, hormones, the immune system, and the nervous system. Fortunately, there is an extensive index as well as a brief glossary. There is a lot of useful information here, accompanied by some good black-and-white photos and diagrams. However, in view of the confusion and inaccuracies, it might be best to look elsewhere for solid information. --Denise L. Moll, Lone Pine Elementary School, West Bloomfield, MI
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

A JOURNEY DEEP INTO THE MIND. AND THE STOMACH, THE KIDNEYS, THE MUSCLES, THE HEART . . .

You walk, you breathe, you talk, you think. You are the most complex and intelligent organism on the planet. But how does this organism work? And how did you arise from one unique cell? Sara Stein is an award-winning science writer whose research is impeccable and whose writing is gifted. In THE BODY BOOK-crammed with facts, statistics, explanations, and connections-she tells the incredible story of your body.

YOUR BODY INSIDE

· DNA, chromosomes, and genes.

· How one sandwich can feed 40 trillion cells.

· The biggest brain in the world (and thoughts that travel 250 miles per hour).

· Your body's defenses.

· Tonsils, the appendix, and the remnants of a tail.

· How the little bits of iron that color your blood red also flowed through the veins of the dinosaurs.

AND OUT

· How you see, hear, taste, touch, smell.

· The sixth sense

· Your gorilla-hairy body

· Sweat, oil, milk, and tears (which actually "wash away" sadness).

· The skin: the body's largest organ.

· Tans, burns, freckles, and the one gram of pigment difference between blacks and whites

· How you grow into your face

"Sara Stein explains things in ways that kids can relate to and turns science into an adventure," writes the Los Angeles Times. Author of the highly acclaimed The Science Book and award-winning Evolution Book, Sara Stein is the mother of four sons and lives with her husband in New York.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (January 5, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894808052
• ISBN-13: 978-0894808050
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,004,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and informative science book., July 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Body Book (Paperback)

I've read this book several times, and I think it's great. It is packed with interesting nuggets about the human body, and is a great book to just read when you have some spare time. Even though I am 14, supposedly "too old" for this book, I think it is a fun read for kids and teenagers of all ages. My only gripe is that there are no colored pictures, which I think would enhance the diagrams in the book.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Keep Looking, October 10, 2007

By 

M. Mangin "Mrs M" (White Lake, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Body Book (Paperback)

An otherwise very thorough book has been ruined by throwing in opinions. A book of this nature should be strictly fact; unfortunately the author decided to include her opinion on many items, i.e., humans are evolved from fish, etc.

Keep looking.