- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Chatto & Windus (29 May 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 070116672X
- ISBN-13: 978-0701166724
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 16.2 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 626,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
The companion volume to HOW WE DIE, the international bestseller: but a book about life and how it works, instead of death.
Product Description
Very few of us know much about the machinery and workings of our bodies. In an era when most educated people are up-to-date on such questions as gene research, or the male contraceptive pill, the depth of familiarity with our own organs (their structure and function) is surprisingly thin. Where is your spleen? And what does it do? And so forth. Sherwin Nuland's book explains the basic equipment of our body and shows how the human organism constructs its own strategies for survival. But Nuland goes much further than conventional biology. In writing the book, he became preoccupied by a question: what is the human spirit, and how does the structure and functioning of our physicals body explain it? He argues that the human spirit is as inseparable from the body as the mind is inseperable from the brain and results from the adaptive biological mechanisms that protect our species and perpetuate our existence. Written with the warmth, wit and intelligence that distinguished HOW WE DIE, Nuland's new book will became essential book for anyone who wants to understand how life keeps going. (19961231)
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
A little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and honor: In such sonorous cadences have orators and singers of psalms ever extolled the wonder that is human being. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
A little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and honor: In such sonorous cadences have orators and singers of psalms ever extolled the wonder that is human being. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very good book. The author take the reader in a journey in our body. Wonderful the chapter dedicated to the development of a child. The long experience of the author as a surgeon adds a plus to the whole book. Each new organ, each new mechanism comes always together with a peace of true life story. The first one is thrilling. Intriguing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Body Mechanics
13 Mar 2004
Format:Paperback
I bought this book under the title "Wisdom of the Body". Because it was written after "How We Die", which won a National Book Award, it was changed from "Wisdom of the Body" to "How We Live" because so many reviewers nicknamed it that. Dr. Nuland is one of the best writer's I have come across concerning the function of the human body. He writes with such clarity and interweaves his stories with wonderful references to the history of medicine. I think everyone that has the least bit of interest in how their body works should read his books. You don't have to have a medical background to understand his writing, but if you do have a medical background, he helps you see things even more clearly. These books are especially meaningful for anyone who has an aging parent suffering from certain illnesses. It will give you an understanding and a peace that you might not find elsewhere.
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
An outstanding book
4 Mar 2001
Format:Audio Cassette
Dr. Nuland has written a well constructed book that leads the reader through a bit of anatomy, together with helpful discussions of the Greek and Latin words behind the anatomical names. However, the main focus is on how the body strives to maintain health and how the emergent phenomena of 'Human Spirit' plays into that maintenance. Contrary to the impressions from earlier reviewers, I found this book to be extremely well written, and carefully constructed so that the reader is exposed to the nature of the material in a well ordered way. I loved his writing style, I loved the emotion behind the stories he told, and I appreciate his struggles with how the human spirit could emerge from the chaos of evolution. I highly recommend this book.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
It's Great!!!
18 May 2006
Format:Paperback
How We Live, by Sherwin B. Nunland, is an intriguing, well-written book worthy of a five-star review. The 364-page book is beautifully written, with excellent descriptions and powerful stories. In addition to scientifically accurate descriptions of each body system, How We Live relates the structure of each part of the body to the function of a human being as a whole. This book is truly the work of an excellent author.
The first chapter, "The Will to Live", is a story of just that - a woman who requires immediate emergency surgery top treat a desperate condition. The descriptions in this chapter are vivid and graphic - including detailed accounts of the surgery itself. Spurting blood, ruptured organs, and jerking muscle are described so intensely it is easy to imagine what the scene described would look like. In fact, this chapter is so well-written, I advise anyone with a weak stomach to skip it!
The second chapter provides many accurate descriptions of the body and how it works - everything from blood and capillaries to the differences between voluntary and involuntary muscle. The circulatory system is described in such detail that it is easy to forget this is a scientific book! The body and its structures are described as wonders of nature. The third chapter goes into a story of breast cancer and gets more deeply into the endocrine system. There is, in this chapter, an interesting description of a cancerous breast and the procedure done to remove it. The fourth chapter deals with the nervous system, and provides several helpful illustrations to help the reader understand somewhat challenging information. The fifth chapter details the cell, and the sixth and seventh chapters discuss sexuality and the reproductive process. The book goes on the discuss birth, the heart, the digestive system, and the brain. These chapters add up to a scientifically accurate, yet interesting book.
How We Live is different from most other science books in that it isn't dry or confusing. It combines accurate information with heart-warming stories and is fun to read. The information is surprisingly easy to understand and the book is interesting enough to contend with fiction novels. This is a must read!
The first chapter, "The Will to Live", is a story of just that - a woman who requires immediate emergency surgery top treat a desperate condition. The descriptions in this chapter are vivid and graphic - including detailed accounts of the surgery itself. Spurting blood, ruptured organs, and jerking muscle are described so intensely it is easy to imagine what the scene described would look like. In fact, this chapter is so well-written, I advise anyone with a weak stomach to skip it!
The second chapter provides many accurate descriptions of the body and how it works - everything from blood and capillaries to the differences between voluntary and involuntary muscle. The circulatory system is described in such detail that it is easy to forget this is a scientific book! The body and its structures are described as wonders of nature. The third chapter goes into a story of breast cancer and gets more deeply into the endocrine system. There is, in this chapter, an interesting description of a cancerous breast and the procedure done to remove it. The fourth chapter deals with the nervous system, and provides several helpful illustrations to help the reader understand somewhat challenging information. The fifth chapter details the cell, and the sixth and seventh chapters discuss sexuality and the reproductive process. The book goes on the discuss birth, the heart, the digestive system, and the brain. These chapters add up to a scientifically accurate, yet interesting book.
How We Live is different from most other science books in that it isn't dry or confusing. It combines accurate information with heart-warming stories and is fun to read. The information is surprisingly easy to understand and the book is interesting enough to contend with fiction novels. This is a must read!
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
