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A Field Guide to the Invisible |
List Price: $23.00
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Reviews |
Description:
Wayne Biddle's tongue is definitely in cheek, and both are coated with bacteria and mold, he informs us. Human bodies are the subject of his close scrutiny, and the chapters on flatus and body odor will force a chuckle from even the most body-function-joke resistant reader. Great photo captions, too--one electron micrograph is labeled, "Mmm...sweat pore." Our five senses allow us to perceive a remarkably rich array of environmental stimuli, yet in face of the vastness of the invisible world--the universe of things we can't see, taste, touch, smell or feel--humanity seems to exist in a narrow, dark cell of limited experience. It is the unsensed world, containing everything from allergens to zeitgeist, that Wayne Biddle explores in this informative, silly, sarcastic set of encyclopedic entries. The invisible world includes such measurables as formaldehyde gas and radiation ("There is no clean air left anywhere on Earth," states Biddle), as well as unmeasurables like God and thoughts (he predicts that a device to show how thoughts proceed through the brain at the cellular level will cost more than a penny per thought). Each of the 58 chapters stand alone, but a fun way to read the book is by following the hypertext-like links Biddle provides in each piece. In this way, you can travel from comet tails to dust to mites to bacteria, flipping around through the book (which would make a great set of web pages). Science miscellanea fans will rejoice that Biddle has followed up A Field Guide to Germs ... this is another witty, informed, up-to-the minute catalog of tidbits almost guaranteed to increase your popularity at parties. --Therese Littleton
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