Book description
Anatomies by Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of Sunday
Times bestseller Periodic Tales, is a splendidly
entertaining journey through the art, science, literature and history
of the human body.
'Magnificent, inspired. He writes like a latter-day Montaigne.
Stimulating scientific hypotheses, bold philosophic theories,
illuminating quotations and curious facts. I recommend it to all'
Telegraph *****
'Splendid, highly entertaining, chock-full of insights ... It
inserts fascinating scientific snippets and anecdotes about our organs
into the wider history of our changing understanding of our bodies'
Sunday Times
'A relentlessly entertaining cultural history of the human body ...
brims with fascinating details, infectious enthusiasm ... the terrain
he covers is so richly brought to life' Guardian
'Elegant and informative ... For Aldersey-Williams, [the body] is a
thing of wonder and a repository of fascinating facts' Mail on
Sunday ****
It is the most fraught and fascinating, talked-about and taboo,
unique yet universal aspect of our lives.
It is the inspiration for art, the subject of science and the source
of some of the greatest stories ever told. It is our most intimate
ally against the world, provider of all pleasurable sensations, the
repository of all we feel and know. And yet what a source of
puzzlement and worry the body is: a home we never chose, a facade that
we continually disguise, a protector that we know will fail us in the end.
Until we fall ill, most of us take this extraordinarily complicated
collection of flesh, bones and fluids entirely for granted. But from
ancient body art to plastic surgery, from early anatomists to
conceptual artists, grave-robbers to bionic athletes, our changing
attitudes to the human body - how it works, what it should look like,
how to live with it, what it means - tell us more about ourselves than
almost any other subject in human history.
Blending history, science, art, literature and the everyday, one of
our finest science writers investigates this most marvellous and
mysterious of creations. The result is a treasure trove of surprising
facts, remarkable stories and startling information that encompasses
everything from the first finger-printing to the physiology of angels,
from synaesthesia to the clown-egg register, from the death-mask of
Isaac Newton to the afterlife of Einstein's brain.
Praise for Periodic Tales:
'Science writing at its best ... fascinating and beautiful ... if
only chemistry had been like this at school ... to meander through the
periodic table with him ... is like going round a zoo with Gerald
Durrell ... a rich compilation of delicious tales, but it offers
greater rewards, too' Matt Ridley
'Immensely engaging and continually makes one sit up in surprise'
Sunday Times
'Splendid ... enjoyable and polished' Observer
'Full of good stories and he knows how to tell them well ... an
agreeable jumble of anecdote, reflection and information' Sunday Telegraph
'Great fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable
anecdotes ... sharp and often witty' Financial Times
Hugh Aldersey-Williams studied natural sciences at Cambridge. He is
the author of several books exploring science, design and architecture
and has curated exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the
Wellcome Collection. His previous book Periodic Tales: The Curious
Lives of the Elements was a Sunday Times bestseller and
has been published in many languages around the world. He lives in
Norfolk with his wife and son.
Hugh Aldersey-Williams studied natural sciences at Cambridge. He is
the author of several books exploring science, design and architecture
and has curated exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the
Wellcome Collection. His previous book
Periodic Tales: The Curious
Lives of the Elements
was a
Sunday Times
Bestseller and has been published in many languages around the world. He
lives in Norfolk with his wife and son.
