Books that foster wonderment about the body

September 25, 2020 5:41 PM

I'm thinking of an illustrated book from my childhood that taught me about the human body's organ systems. I was especially drawn to a spread that depicted the cardiovascular system that as a factory with red blood cell workers transporting oxygen in little buckets.

Background: I had a pretty harrowing, crowded afternoon in the city last week that included time in a stalled subway car and a crowded elevator. It shook me up a lot more than I expected, and I felt physically unwell afterward, from anxiety, it turns out, rather than Covid.

With the encouragement of my therapist, I'm working on reducing my fear and anxiety about contracting Covid by educating myself with statistics about my actual likelihood of getting severely ill. On top of that, I'm looking to replace that fear with a more positive emotional experience around my body, mainly through books that foster wonderment about the human body. Because when I read these kinds of books, I do feel amazed and grateful that so many things do go right, all the time, in my body, across all my organ systems.

My request: I don't need to find this particular illustrated book from my childhood, but I'm looking for books with a similar feel. I really enjoyed Bill Bryson's recent The Body: A Guide for Occupants, for example. Though it's not focused on the body, I loved the film Powers of Ten by the Eameses when I saw it in high school science class because it was an educational and inspiring experience that literally put things into perspective.

I'm primarily looking for non-fiction books about the human body that are legible to the layperson, but feel free to recommend tangential works that you think may be helpful.

P.S. This question turned up this question from 2012, which I'll be reading with interest. Leaving for you all because I've already found so many promising leads.

Thank you!

posted by charcoals to Science & Nature (11 answers total)

Best answer: If you are a woman or even appreciate learning about women's health and sexuality, Our Bodies Ourselves is a good practical look at how our bodies work that has a good attitude. The Man Manual is not the same ,but there was one that is from an earlier (read: more hippie) time that was good and I'll try to track it down.
posted by jessamyn at 6:00 PM on September 25, 2020

Best answer: Read your question and instantly thought of Stephen Biesty's Incredible Body.

Good grief! There are tiny workers crawling around in our bodies! Or at least there are in Stephen Biesty's incredibly detailed anatomical cross sections of everything from the circulatory system to the human brain. The little people are there to show you how things work: the tiny tunnelers represent blood, hormones, the immune system, nerves, muscles, and organ "home teams." As they cavort around the exquisitely intricate drawings, Richard Platt, a most charming companion, accompanies us on our journey through the body's systems--into the ear, for example:

Feeling our way along a shiny bundle of nerve fibers, we squeezed through a small, circular hole where the fibers branched. Should we take the left or right fork? We flipped a coin and chose the left. It led to a narrow tunnel, like the inside of a seashell.... Only one part of Steve's body looked like this: the inner ear.

One of the best body system cross sections is the huge centerfold exposing the inner workings of the digestive system from mouth to... end. Then again, there's the fascinating-yet-disgusting rolled back tongue, the awesome opened-up eye, and the sliced skeleton--12 big drawings in all. Take a trip through Stephen Biesty's Incredible Body and have fun while you learn. (Ages 9 to 12)

posted by Rhaomi at 6:14 PM on September 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

We listen to Science Friday, and they had James Hamblin, who wrote Clean: The New Science of skin, which might unpack how some social anxiety gets fed v. actual science.

Two women science writers who are very approachable are Natalie Angier and Mary Roach. Mary Roach wants readers to laugh at “oh-the-humanity” moments, similar to Bill Bryson.
posted by childofTethys at 7:02 PM on September 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

I know you weren’t looking for the old book, but reading this pinged my memory- I‘m thinking the book you mentioned is The Human Body: What it is and how it works. I have a copy that I forgot about and I was glad to remember it with this question! Looking forward to seeing the other book suggestions in this thread.
posted by actionpact at 8:09 PM on September 25, 2020

Best answer: The incomparable David Macaulay wrote The Way We Work, which I don't remember havng little buckets of oxygen but has a similar feel. It's a beautiful book that has his characteristic ability to convey very complex concepts in a funny and easy to understand way.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 9:07 PM on September 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you wanted that childhood book feel... there's a manga and anime that is precisely imagining the inside of the body as a big city populated by cute cells going about their daily work.

Cells at Work!

If you check out YouTube you'll find a bunch of clips and even "Real Doctor reacts to Cells at Work" videos. The anime is totally charming and should hit that sense of wonderment. I'd assume the manga is better.
posted by zengargoyle at 10:53 PM on September 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

Mary Roach’s books—Stiff, Bonk, Gulp!
posted by Violet Hour at 1:44 AM on September 26, 2020

I grew up with a human body book that depicts the circulatory system using trucks - The Body & How it Works (illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, Giuliano Fornari, and Sergio) The 1998 edition is available to borrow on the Internet Archive but I believe there was a similar edition before that.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:00 AM on September 26, 2020

Diane Ackerman's Natural History of the Senses has some of what you're looking for. Smart, lush nonfiction with an almost stoned have-you-ever-really-looked-at-your-hand amazement at how cool our bodies are. The book wanders into different fields--evolutionary biology, cultural practices, literary history, Oliver-Sacks-style anecdotes on disorders of various senses--and ties them together with a strong and infectious feeling of wonder.
posted by miles per flower at 7:32 AM on September 26, 2020

They Might Be Giants made a song and video you'll enjoy: The Bloodmobile
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:51 AM on September 26, 2020

Seconding Clean, as mentioned above. It is so so good.
posted by bookworm4125 at 9:20 PM on September 30, 2020