Tour of the body hardly gets under the skin

David Cohen, contributor

(Image: Nicholas Belton/Getty)

Anatomies by Hugh Aldersey-Williams aims to reveal the body's workings, but devotes too much space to cultural connotations and too little to science

BENEATH the skin lies a world of biological wonders that can baffle and amaze doctors and researchers. It was partly this that drew me to study medicine.

But it's easy to get bogged down in the detail as a student, so I was keen to be led into this enchanting land by a guide as acclaimed as Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of Periodic Tales: The curious lives of the elements. Aldersey-Williams is an erudite and gifted writer, and in the opening pages he promises to lift the lid on the mysteries of the human body, most of which are little known outside the research community. I hoped for a great ride.

Anatomies begins with a look at the sociocultural history of the way we perceive the body as a whole. The rest of the book is devoted to the body's major organs and building blocks, including bones, brain, heart, blood, ears, eyes and stomach, rounding off with a peek into how we might change and augment our bodies in future.

If you are interested in the history of science and medicine, and like learning curious facts, there is plenty here for you. For example, there's the tale of the food writer who made, then ate, cake icing using fat sucked from his own body; the fact that nose jobs have been on offer since the 19th century; and the finding that attractive people are more likely to be acquitted at trial.

But don't expect much depth or science. Instead, Aldersey-Williams devotes a great deal of space to exploring the roots of old ideas about the body and their cultural significance, such as the misconception that the heart is where our emotions are centred. It's an interesting historical perspective, but doesn't deliver on his promise of uncovering the workings of our bodies. Although he touches on some profound and fascinating subjects - like organ donation, face transplants and the questions of identity they raise, even what makes Einstein's brain special - he skirts round the most interesting aspects of the body, unwilling or unable to grapple with the tougher scientific concepts.

Take his chapter on the stomach, which colloquially can refer to the entire lower digestive system. This amazing part of the body, with its own dedicated and highly specialised nervous system that some describe as a second brain, is dealt with in just a few sentences.

Anatomies is a fun stroll across the familiar landscape of the human body, meandering through the obvious places and exploring their popular connotations. It's something to have on the bathroom shelf as you contemplate your bodily functions, but don't expect a revelatory experience.

Book information:
Anatomies: The human body, its parts and the stories they tell by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
Viking/W. W. Norton
?18.99/$26.95

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