The Body Illustrated: A Guide for Occupants

(Hardback)

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Description

A new, beautifully illustrated edition of the Number One Bestseller and Sunday Times Science Book of the Year, which takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body. 'A directory of wonders' - Guardian 'Jaw-dropping' -The Times 'It is a feat of narrative skill to bake so many facts in to an entertaining and nutritious book. Daily Telegraph 'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson ... an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book' Sunday Times Now enhanced in this new edition by hundreds of stunning photographs and illustrations, Bryson's book about the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself, is an instant classic. A Sunday Times and international bestseller, it is jam-packed with extraordinary facts, remarkable characters and astonishing stories. 'What I learned is that we are infinitely more complex and wondrous and often more mysterious, than I had ever suspected. There really is no story more amazing than the story of us.' Bill Bryson

Reviews

'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson... richly interesting... an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book. If it sells hundreds of thousands of copies, like the last one, it will be no bad thing.' * Sunday Times *
A directory of wonders. Extraordinary stories about the heart, lungs, genitals ... plus some anger and life advice - all delivered in the inimitable Bryson style -- Gavin Francis * Guardian *
SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019: 'so packed with arresting facts (you eat 60 tons of food in a lifetime) and unlikely anecdotes (such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel's six weeks with a half-sovereign lodged in his throat) that you barely notice the sheer volume of anatomical knowledge you're digesting ... makes complex subjects simple and eminently entertaining.' * The Sunday Times *
Bryson feeds the pith, pulp and bitter pips of a subject into his brain and produces a sweet, zingy quantity of juice - this book is a delight. * The Spectator *
Remarkable ... Every page is dense with scientific facts written as vividly as a thriller, as well as answers to conundrums such as why we don't fall out of bed when we are asleep ... It is woven through with the kind of human stories that Bryson has made his trademark. * Mail on Sunday *

Author Bio

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. His bestselling books include The Road to Little Dribbling, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, One Summer and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. In a national poll, Notes from a Small Island was voted the book that best represents Britain. His acclaimed work of popular science, A Short History of Nearly Everything, won the Aventis Prize and the Descartes Prize, and was the biggest selling non-fiction book of its decade in the UK. His new book The Body- A Guide for Occupants is an extraordinary exploration of the human body which will have you marvelling at the form you occupy. Bill Bryson was Chancellor of Durham University 2005-2011. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in England.