Life at the Extremes
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In Life at the Extremes Frances Ashcroft, Professor of Physiology at Oxford University, investigates the related questions: how much can the human body endure? What can it survive, what causes it to fail? Why can some creatures tolerate conditions that would kill others? The extremes in question, to which bodies are periodically subjected, either voluntarily or not, include the limits of endurable temperature and pressure; physical constraints on speed; the weightlessness, vacuum and utter cold of space; and a number of environments that, for various reasons, are so unpleasant as to limit drastically the options of life-forms that attempt to inhabit them. By its nature, such a subject does not lend itself to continuous narrative, and Life at the Extremes may be best regarded as a kind of anthology into which one can dip to pull out examples, cheerful or gruesome, of what can happen to living tissue at the extremes. Here is Mr Blagden, accompanied by some eggs, a raw steak and a dog, entering a room heated to 105 degrees C, in the late 18th century. Fifteen minutes later the steak and eggs were cooked but Mr Blagden and the dog were not. A clear and absorbing explanation of mammalian heat regulation follows. Here are dreadful pictures of frost-bitten extremities; Sir Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile; a frog frozen solid in a block of ice but still alive and well; divers and the bends; astronauts and the redistribution of bodily fluids in weightlessness; flamingos enduring their caustic soda lakes; the physiology of the chilblain. Frances Ashcroft writes warmly and with wit: her many illustrative anecdotes are well chosen and provoke much thought about how life copes with, and adapts to, the physical circumstances it finds itself in. --Robin Davidson
Amazon.co.uk Review
How much can the human body endure? What can it survive, what causes it to fail? Why can some creatures tolerate conditions that would kill others? Frances Ashcroft, Professor of Physiology at Oxford University, investigates these and related questions in Life at the Extremes. The extremes in question, to which bodies are periodically subjected, either voluntarily or not, include the limits of endurable temperature and pressure; physical constraints on speed; the weightlessness, vacuum and utter cold of space; and a number of environments that, for various reasons, are so unpleasant as to limit drastically the options of life-forms that attempt to inhabit them. By its nature, such a subject does not lend itself to continuous narrative, and Life at the Extremes may be best regarded as a kind of anthology into which one can dip to pull out examples, cheerful or gruesome, of what can happen to living tissue at the extremes. Here is Mr Blagden, accompanied by some eggs, a raw steak and a dog, entering a room heated to 105 degrees C, in the late 18th century. Fifteen minutes later the steak and eggs were cooked but Mr Blagden and the dog were not. A clear and absorbing explanation of mammalian heat regulation follows. Here are dreadful pictures of frost-bitten extremities; Sir Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile; a frog frozen solid in a block of ice but still alive and well; divers and the bends; astronauts and the redistribution of bodily fluids in weightlessness; flamingos enduring their caustic soda lakes; the physiology of the chilblain. Frances Ashcroft writes warmly and with wit: her many illustrative anecdotes are well chosen and provoke much thought about how life copes with, and adapts to, the physical circumstances it finds itself in. --Robin Davidson
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love this book.
It is a fascinating insight into how the human body copes with extremes of heat and cold, heights and depths, etc. Frances AShcroft explains how our biology copes with these extremes.
It is a fascinating insight into how the human body copes with extremes of heat and cold, heights and depths, etc. Frances AShcroft explains how our biology copes with these extremes.
And it is not just the biology. The book is full of little stories. There are stories that make me squirm, and say "Stop! Don't tell me any more!" And then I just have to read the next one. And there are other stories that cause me to wonder, like the scientists who carry out experiments on themselves, experiments that lead to all sorts of suffering.
The great thing is this: while I am reading all these stories about life at the extremes, I am also absorbing a lot of basic information about how our bodies work normally, almost without realising I am learning. I was talking to someone about this book, and I started to rabbit away about what happens in an aircraft if it suffers explosive decompression - I was surprised at what I was able to tell my pals.
This book is full of wee stories, gruesome, outrageous, fascinating, inspiring.
It is a brilliant source of tales to tell in the pub.
It is very informative about human physiology, and also history.
To Paul and Shula who gave me this book for my birthday - thanks indeed. Its great.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Whilst I appreciate that this should really only be a review of the content of the book, I thought I'd mention that, having recently purchased the ebook (kindle) version, it is full of spelling errors and incomplete sentences. This has completely spoilt the reading experience and I have complained to both Amazon and the Publisher.
Please don't let this put you off buying the book as the actual content is good, it is just the ebook version which is currently flawed. I am confident that this will eventually be rectified but buyer beware!
Please don't let this put you off buying the book as the actual content is good, it is just the ebook version which is currently flawed. I am confident that this will eventually be rectified but buyer beware!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I did enjoy reading this book and I did learn a couple of those classic titbits to inform, or annoy, friends with. I now know why we get The Bends; what temperature your brain cells die at; that Mt. Everest is coincidentally at the absolute limit of what humans can survive without breathing apparatus; and some historical details on early diving bells and the Mariana Trench. That said, this book is incredibly `hard going'. This isn't necessarily as a result of the scientific content, which although sometimes difficult to grasp at the first pass, isn't truly that difficult. It comes as a result of the author's laboured style and overly convoluted pros. I did feel like I was expected to have a prior knowledge and understanding of the subject. Like I said I wasn't looking for a `beginners guide' and this book wasn't technically demanding, but the explanations are so befuddled that it was impossible sometimes to follow the thought pattern (there were very few diagrams, graphs, and/or charts, that in some instances may have gone a long way to succinctly explaining the issue).
I don't think this book warrants a `1' or `2' star but it's certainly not one of the best popular science books I've read in recent times. It had the potential to be a superb book, with an engaging and interesting subject matter. However, it falls short of this and manages to make some parts very dull. I did read the book cover to cover, unlike the people that review what they've "given up" on, but I have to confess it took me a lot longer than usual. Maybe this is something for a coffee table or chapter-by-chapter `dip' over the course of a few months. If nothing else it may simply inspire you to further reading on the very interesting topics.
Just as an aside. I take exceptional care of my books but found that by the end a couple of pages were falling out where they had become unstuck from the broken spine. Wasn't happy!
I don't think this book warrants a `1' or `2' star but it's certainly not one of the best popular science books I've read in recent times. It had the potential to be a superb book, with an engaging and interesting subject matter. However, it falls short of this and manages to make some parts very dull. I did read the book cover to cover, unlike the people that review what they've "given up" on, but I have to confess it took me a lot longer than usual. Maybe this is something for a coffee table or chapter-by-chapter `dip' over the course of a few months. If nothing else it may simply inspire you to further reading on the very interesting topics.
Just as an aside. I take exceptional care of my books but found that by the end a couple of pages were falling out where they had become unstuck from the broken spine. Wasn't happy!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant
This book was excellent, it is fascinating and Frances draws on personal experience to bring the book to life. The book is great for medical students and casual readers
Published 1 month ago by k101
Brilliant read!
I absolutely love this book. I got it years ago but can easily keep coming back to it for a bit of vicarious adventure!
Published 19 months ago by Ms. B. Vallely
A Great Book
This book provides an incredible wealth of information about the human body. It concisely explains human physiology and relates it well to extreme conditions, keeping the reader... Read more
Published 21 months ago by U. Jeyabellen
enthralling popular science
Approached this book with some trepidation after reading some of the other reviews even though had been thinking of reading this for some time. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2010 by L. Farrell
Very interesting
I enjoyed this book a lot. While it can be at times a tad complicated (but really, not often), it's full of interesting facts and anecdotes, with clear explanations of the science... Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2007 by anonymous
A fascinating subject made hard work of
As a scientist who spends a great deal of time at altitude and in the cold I had been wanting to read this book for a long time. Read more
Published on 17 May 2005 by Michelle
Too Scientific for the Average Reader
I am currently "ploughing" my way through Life at the Extremes and have to say that I'm more than a little disappointed. Read more
Published on 4 April 2005 by "macghillie"
Most enjoyable read; clear reasons for stressful situations
Fascinating examples of stressful situations in which humans may find themselves, with the physiological explanation presented in a highly accessible fashion. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2000
fascinating stuff for the non-scientist
As I read this book I realised how much fascinating stuff I didn't know about our environment.And the great beauty of Frances Ashcroft's book is that she makes it all accessible to... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2000
Makes you love to learn!
This is so fascinating everybody will want to take Frances Ashcroft's physiology course at Oxford! OK, maybe you didn't get into Oxford, but don't worry, even if you are merely... Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2000
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