I am a biologist, a writer, and a teacher. I like knowing how the human body works but what I really like is knowing why it works the way it does. Those explanations lie deep in our past and I use my broad biological background to dig up the answers in scientific journals. Then I take those articles and figure out how to describe them to people who last took a biology class in 10th grade. I start with those drab scientific threads and knit them into big, bold scientific sweaters that anyone can curl up in and feel warm and comfortable.
I wrote
Evolution Gone Wrong: The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (or Don't)
You are your gut! In this immensely readable book, Giulia Enders describes the ins and outs, highs and lows, quirks and oddities of the ever-important digestive system.
No stone is left unturned and modern research about gut bacteria, allergies, autoimmune disorders, and the gut/brain connection are all described in an engaging, accessible, and very memorable way. You’ll never look at going to the bathroom the same way again!
“Everything you ever wanted to know about the gut (and then some).” —SELF
Discover the secrets of your digestive system—and how to hone a healthy gut—plus new research on the mind-gut connection.
With quirky charm, science star and medical doctor Giulia Enders explains the gut’s magic, answering questions like: What’s really up with gluten and lactose intolerance? How does the gut affect obesity? What's the connection between our microbiome and mental health? Why does acid reflux happen? In this revised edition of her beloved bestseller, Enders includes a new section on the brain-gut connection,…
Let’s be honest. Books about science usually fall into one of two categories. Many of them are dry and boring, with way too much detail, losing the reader in the scientific weeds. Other times they are too fluffy, with the author trying so hard to be witty and cool that the science takes a back seat.
It is rare to find an author and a book that can bring modern, complex science to the table in a package that is witty, readable, and engaging. Jeremy DeSilva pulls this off in First Steps. DeSilva, one of the world’s preeminent paleoanthropologists, uses his vast experience in the field to explain both how and why humans started walking upright.
Winner of the W.W. Howells Book Prize from the American Anthropological Association and named one of the best science books of 2021 by Science News
“DeSilva takes us on a brilliant, fun, and scientifically deep stroll through history, anatomy, and evolution, in order to illustrate the powerful story of how a particular mode of movement helped make us one of the most wonderful, dangerous and fascinating species on Earth.”—Agustín Fuentes, Professor of Anthropology, Princeton University and author of Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being
“Breezy popular science at its best. . . . Makes a compelling…
There is no better book that combines the worlds of science and sports than The Sports Gene by David Epstein.
This book takes you all around the world to explore the physical and mental traits of diverse athletes with the goal of understanding how much of athletic prowess is written in our genetic code. The results are surprising and will flip a lot of your preconceived notions about nature and nurture.
I read it years ago but still talk to my students every semester about why, year in and year out, the best distance runners in the world seem to keep coming from the same little pocket of Kenya.
The New York Times bestseller – with a new afterword about early specialization in youth sports – from the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.
The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?
In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success and the so-called 10,000-hour rule, David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and…
At the end of the day, we are humans because of our DNA and Sam Kean breaks down that DNA in a way that is surprisingly page-turning.
You will learn more about your genetic code than you ever thought possible. Who would have thought that there is more viral DNA in the human genome than actual human genes!
The Violinist’s Thumb is a ride that weaves the biology of DNA and the cultural and societal impacts of the molecular revolution into a compelling story you won’t want to put down.
From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA.
In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In The Violinist's Thumb, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA.
There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more…
Zoobiquityis like no other book about human biology.
The authors describe how an understanding of the physiology of other animals can impact human health. I’ll never forget how the author relates the concept of capture myopathy (the surge of adrenaline an animal experiences when captured that can damage its heart) to the condition of sudden infant death syndrome in humans.
The book will leave you feeling like some degree of veterinary training should be compulsory for all medical doctors!
A revelatory depiction of what animals can teach us about the human body and mind, exploring how animal and human commonality can be used to diagnose, treat, and heal patients of all species.
"Full of fascinating stories.” —Atul Gawande, M.D.
Do animals overeat? Get breast cancer? Have fainting spells? Inspired by an eye-opening consultation at the Los Angeles Zoo, which revealed that a monkey experienced the same symptoms of heart failure as human patients, cardiologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz embarked upon a project that would reshape how she practiced medicine.
Beginning with the above questions, she began informally researching every affliction that…
Evolution Gone Wrong explains why the human body is so uniquely prone to aches and pains. Why do we have sore backs? Why don’t our teeth fit in our mouths? Why do so many of us require correction to our vision? Why is the whole process of reproduction so often fraught with terrific discomfort? To get at the answers we take a whirlwind tour from our long-ago past to the fast-moving present and around the entirety of the animal kingdom from slimy hagfish to gorillas with humble penises and everything in between.
The book is also legit funny. You will have a good laugh while learning about why your body fails you in such predictable ways.
I come by my interest in history and the years before, during, and after the Second World War honestly. For one thing, both my father and my father-in-law served as pilots in the war, my father a P-38 pilot in North Africa and my father-in-law a B-17 bomber pilot in England. Their histories connect me with a period I think we can still almost reach with our fingertips and one that has had a momentous impact on our lives today. I have taken that interest and passion to discover and write true life stories of the war—focusing on the untold and unheard stories often of the “Average Joe.”
October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on any other single day of the war.
The narrative of No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident while focusing its attention on ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. All were men who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place.
No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in…
October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war. In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller's pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp. It concludes with the death…
