The Secret Life of the Human Body ― Uncover the Hidden Workings of Your Body

Getting to know just how intricate and fascinating our bodies are.

Most of us take our body for granted and are never aware of its amazing capabilities. The Secret Life of the Human Body reveals just how intricate and fascinating our body is.

Using offbeat illustrations and concise text, the book examines the symphony of interconnections and interdependences that keeps us alive. For example, there are seven octillion atoms making up the human body distributed among the organs, tissues, nerves, fibers, fluids and more which ensure that the entire system runs smoothly as we go about our daily life, totally unaware.

How many of us know that the body has 15 "other senses" or that our eyes are capable of seeing the Andromeda galaxy 2.5 million light years away? The Secret Life of the Human Body takes us under our skin to discover a world we take for granted.

The chapters are:

1. An inventory of what you're made of
2. The perfect world of the cardiovascular system -- Get to know your own heart; Mapping your blood vessels
3. The hidden world of hormones and enzymes -- How enzymes speed up processes in the body; The crucial role of hormones
4. Breath and fueling muscles
5. Musculoskeletal secrets
6. Digestive tract and what lies within
7. The battleground of your immune system -- Antibodies and how they protect your body; The amazing spleen
8. The senses
9. Skin, hair, nails
10. When things go wrong -- What causes disease and how our bodies counteract it; Vaccination and eradicating illnesses
11. Future health -- Curing HIV and other "incurable" diseases
12. Technology and the future of medicine -- 3D-printing of organs for transplant; surgery by ultrasound.

We all love to learn something about ourselves, about our body, how it works and what happens when it doesn't work. Readers of all ages and interests will discover fascinating facts and come to appreciate the wonder of their body... and perhaps take better care of it.

The Secret Life of... series unlocks the fascinating workings behind subjects such as mathematics, biology, linguistics, chemistry and genetics, to give readers a practical introduction and insights into the underlying stories and facts. Fully illustrated and packed with quirky illustrations and helpful diagrams, these books are sure to pique the curiosity of anyone who's ever thought, "I wonder how that works..."

John Clancy BSc (Hons) has over 35 years' experience in human biology. He was a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of East Anglia, UK, where he received the Excellence in Teaching award in 2012. He has written seven books, one of which has sold in more than 50 countries, and two have featured in TV documentaries. He is a practitioner of the Bowen technique, a soft tissue therapy specialist.