"Diving Physiology In Plain English" A book review by Edmond Kay, MD
"No bubble is so iridescent or floats longer than that blown by a successful teacher." Sir William Osler (1849-1919), Canadian Physician
Dr. Jolie Bookspan has been listening to her students for years, patiently finding the best way to get across difficult concepts of Human Physiology. Many of her students hated science, and with good reason. It can be so dry, especially when poorly taught. She had to develop new tricks to impart her knowledge, but more importantly she had to learn new ways of germinating interest in the subject so that her ideas would bear fruit. With this book, she has virtually redefined the art of teaching by exploiting humor as a form of "synaptic glue" seldom used in a serious scientific text. Her wit is fun and richly layered. That is what makes this book so compelling. She makes science delicious.
As you can see by now, I enjoyed reading this book immensely. It turns out to be one of the most valuable books in my collection for a number of reasons. First, as the manager of an interactive Diving Medicine web site for the University of Washington, I often find myself trying to teach Diving Physiology on-line to divers with a variety of backgrounds from the absolute neophyte to the scientist/colleague. Take for instance the subject of Immersion. After reading the chapter titled "Effects of Immersion," it struck me that those effects are not intuitive. It makes sense after you read it, but information on hydrostatic gradients and centralization of blood volume (Fat-Face-Chicken-Legs-Effect) was not only interesting but also invaluable to me as an educator. This book is not a "Read Once & Shelve Forever" type, but falls squarely into the "Read Often & Frequently Reference" category. In its place of honor beside my computer, my signed copy has started to look more like a well-used phone book than a physiology text.
I reviewed a sample of the most common "Frequently Asked Questions" taken on-line at my web site during the last two years of operation. It is uncanny how relevant this book is. Asthma, barotrauma, compartment off-gassing, decompression theory; it is all here and handled with the skill that comes from years of teaching. I was pleasantly surprised that many popular clinical topics were also covered in much more detail than I have come to expect. "Diving Headaches" (a common topic) was given three pages and is a masterpiece of completeness, as is "Oxygen Toxicity." With few exceptions, there is just about everything a diver needs to know here in fascinating detail.
My only disappointment was to find that the physiology of childhood and adolescence was missing. It would have been particularly relevant to have included it here in light of all the economic pressures to get divers in the water at an ever younger age. I strongly council parents to restrain themselves from pushing their children into the water with SCUBA gear for a few years into adolescence. The criticisms are few, the accolades many.
Dr Jolie Bookspan has written more that just a "handy compendium" (her words). This is an encyclopedia of the most valuable information a diver might want to know. A very entertaining way to learn and teach science. Yes, I do love this book!
(Edmond Kay, MD http://weber.u.washington.edu/~ekay/ Review also found in Alert Diver, Mar/Apr 1998)
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT DIVING PHYSIOLOGY IN PLAIN ENGLISH
It's great! I think it will become THE source of information on diving physiology for layman. Congrats. -- Alex Brylske. Dive Training magazine's technical editor, and one of the leading experts in the field of recreational diver education
Dr. Bookspan's "Diving Physiology in Plain English" is unequaled in communicating real facts in layman's terms. It should be required reading. -- Win Remley, CoPublisher DeepTech Journal
It is now required text for all our technical diving courses. -- Captain Billy Deans, renowned technical diver and trainer
I bought it somewhat out of curiosity to see if a scientist really could write anything in plain English. It's really a must read for everyone interested in the subject. 2 thumbs up, 5 stars and a hip-hip-hoooooorayyyy. -- Ed Tepper. Scuba Instructor, Orlando, FL
"It is the best nuts and bolts book about diving physiology out there today. I highly recommend it as a must read for all divers. I think it is superb!" -- Rod Farb. Photographer, film maker, explorer.
Delightful. -- Dr. Leon Greenbaum. Executive Director Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS)
Enough information to choke a biologist. -- Mac Hopkin. Scuba Instructor, Florida.
Easy to read and chock full of interesting facts. It can be picked up and opened at random, and read profitably. The layout is esthetically pleasing; the glossary is a blast! -- David Hsu, Ph.D., M.D. University of Iowa School of Medicine
One of the best books available on Diving Physiology (and at a reasonable cost.) Diving Physiology In Plain English has been added to the U of MI scuba "official recommended reading list." It's awesome. -- Larry "Harris" Taylor, Ph.D. Biochemist & Scuba Instructor at the University of Michigan scuba program.
I like the writing style, and the structure makes it really easy to skim to find what you are interested in. I highly recommend it. -- Paul Heinmiller. Former Director of Technology, ORCA Industries
Entertaining, thorough and accurate. -- Ron Ryan, Contributing Editor, Sources Journal of Underwater Education, past manager of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, consultant on hyperbarics, and ScubaPro test lab personnel.
A real contribution to the field. Sincere congratulations! -- Rev Dr. Ed Lanphier, M.D. Renowned pioneer in diving physiology and medicine
The best and easiest to read book on dive physiology on the market. -- Parham P. Baker, DeepEdge
Informative, knowledgeable yet reads like a novel. -- Alan J. Ostrowe, M.D. aka scubadoc
What makes this book so special is that it makes science delicious. There is just about everything a diver needs to know here in fascinating detail. I use your book almost every day -- Edmond Kay, M.D., Hyperbaric Physician
The most extraordinarily well thought out, clearly written text of its kind in my considerable exposure in the field. -- Caroline Fife, M.D. Director of the Hermann Center for Hyperbaric Medicine, Chief Consultant, CHeCS Training Program, Krug Life Sciences NASA
-- From The Publisher
"It's great! I think it will become the source of information on diving physiology." -- Alex Brylske, Dive Training Magazine's technical editor
"The best and easiest to read book on dive physiolgy on the market." -- Parham P. Baker, Deepedge
"The best nuts and bolts book about diving physiology out there today." -- Rod Farb, photographer, film maker
The most extraordinarily well thought out, clearly written text of its kind. -- Caroline Fife, M.D. Director of the Hermann Center for Hyperbaric Medicine, Chief Consultant, CHeCS Training Program, Krug Life Sciences NASA
Dr. Jolie Bookspan is a career research scientist in environmental physiology, which doesn't means trees, but the effects on human physiology of heat, cold, altitude, outer space, G-forces, pressure, exercise, injury states, and immersion, sometimes all at once, and has a clinical practice in sports medicine. She completed a post-doc in altitude decompression and a fellowship in cold immersion. She worked almost nine years at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Institute For Environmental Medicine (IFEM), analyzing oxygen toxicity research - studies on hyperbaric, hypoxic, and hypercapnic response to rest and exercise. After serving in the Army, went on to become research scientist for the USNavy, demonstrating that even skilled scientists can make the same mistake twice. For the Navy, worked in the cold immersion laboratory and during Desert Storm was transferred to Acceleration and G-Force Training Studies. She has been a guest scientist at an underwater laboratory--living and working underwater, was advisor to The Discovery Channel, and taught anatomy at a college in Mexico in the mountains where the entrance exam was getting up there without a nosebleed.
She is a certified scuba, swimming, yoga, and martial arts instructor, holds a black belt in Karate, and was a former amateur boxer. Her father taught her to scuba dive in the Hudson River in the 1960's.
Dr. Bookspan has worked with the top researchers in diving investigating scientific thing-a-ma-bobs which funding organizations have gone out of their way to meticulously ignore.
