Human Biology

The creators of the award-winning science podcast for kids, Brains On!, present a humorous, fact- and fun-filled look at life on Earth -- from deep sea creatures and carnivorous plants to the human body and stinky bacteria. Perfect for STEM fans! Did you ever wonder why jellyfish sting? Or if...

“An elegant, wide-ranging history” (The New York Review of Books) of the centuries-long quest to discover the critical role of germs in disease thatreveals as much about human reasoning—and the pitfalls of ego—as it does about microbes. “Levenson takes readers through an entertaining...

Stepping effortlessly from myth to cutting-edge science, Mutants gives a brilliant narrative account of our genetic code and the captivating people whose bodies have revealed it - a French convent girl who found herself changing sex at puberty; children who, echoing Homer's Cyclops, are born with a single eye in the middle of their foreheads; a village of long-lived Croatian dwarves; one family, whose bodies were entirely covered with hair, was kept at the Burmese royal court for four generations and gave Darwin one of his keenest insights into heredity.

Optimize your health with these 175+ quick, actionable ways to boost your immune system and beat the common cold every season. From taking a day off of work to stay in bed to having to run out to the store for last minute medicine that you were sure you had, no one enjoys being sick. But what if...

Many have studied it, written about it and even died for it and yet, it appears, we are mostly blind to the essence of love. Dr Liat Yakir takes us on a fascinating journey through the evolution of love in history and in modern times, showing the importance of hormones, neurons and genes that dictate who we’ll fall in love with and who we’ll reject.

An Outside Magazine 2021 Science book pick One of Smithsonian's 10 Best Science Books of 2021 A taboo-busting romp through the shame, stink, and strange science of sweating. Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it’s also one of our most vital and least understood. In...

How did humans come to be who we are? In his marvelous, eccentric, and widely lauded book Being a Beast, legal scholar, veterinary surgeon, and naturalist extraordinaire Charles Foster set out to understand the consciousness of animal species by living as a badger, otter, fox, deer, and swift. Now, he inhabits three crucial periods of human development to understand the consciousness of perhaps the strangest animal of all—the human being.

A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the...

A thrilling tale of encounters with nature’s masters of biochemistry In Venomous, the molecular biologist Christie Wilcox investigates venoms and the animals that use them, revealing how they work, what they do to the human body, and how they can revolutionize biochemistry and medicine today...

How did a deadly genetic disease help our ancestors survive the bubonic plagues of Europe? Was diabetes evolution's response to the last Ice Age? Will a visit to the tanning salon help bring down your cholesterol? Why do we age? Why are some people immune to HIV? Can your genes be turned on—or...

From one of the world’s most innovative designers comes a fiercely passionate manifesto—on why so many places have become miserable and boring and how we can make them better for everyone—that will change how you see the world around you. We are living through a global catastrophe...

How four tools enabled humanity to control its destiny What enabled us to go from simple stone tools to smartphones? How did bands of hunter-gatherers evolve into multinational empires? Listeners of Sapiens will say a cognitive revolution - a dramatic evolutionary change that altered our brains, turning primitive humans into modern ones - caused a cultural explosion. In Transcendence, Gaia Vince argues instead that modern humans are the product of a nuanced coevolution of our genes, environment, and culture that goes back into deep time.

A New York Public Library "Best Book of the Year" “The Forgotten Sense leaves us with the hope of new discoveries and new recoveries—so that we may once again revel in the glorious, fragrant world around us.”—Wall Street Journal By one of the world’s leading researchers into the...

Since the late 1980s the dominant theory of human origins has been that a "cognitive revolution" (c. 50,000 years ago) led to the advent of our species, Homo sapiens. As a result of this revolution our species spread and eventually replaced all existing archaic Homo species, ultimately leading to the superiority of modern humans. Or so we thought. As Clive Finlayson explains, the latest advances in genetics prove that there was significant interbreeding between modern humans and the Neanderthals.

Transform your understanding of the human gut: An enlightening journey through the most underrated organ with Dr. Giulia Enders' groundbreaking exploration of digestive health, microbial connections, and whole-body wellness. Discover the secrets of your digestive system—and how to hone a...

At a time when our world is fractured by polarized views and where abuse of power plagues our interpersonal landscape, Humanifestations provides a grounded and compassionate blueprint for individual and collective transformation. In his fiercely honest style, Brown speaks to the challenges of living our truth in this world and supports our efforts to heal and ReBrave. Humanifestations is a revolution of truthspeak that will ignite your power and awaken your magnificence.

From the creator of WE HAVE NO IDEA, an introductory journey into your own mind—if your inner voice had a Ph.D. in brain science, cracked jokes, and drew cartoons. Why do you love? Why do you lie? What makes you happy? Every single thought you have comes from one place: your brain. But what...

In Unfit for Purpose, biologist and broadcaster Adam Hart explores the mismatch between our fundamental biology and the modern world we have created. In each chapter Adam reveals the many ways in which biological adaptations that evolved to help us survive and thrive now work against us. For example, in the modern world stress is a killer, but how did 'fight or flight' instincts turn from life-savers to life-takers? Obesity might be a disease now, but is it really just a troublesome side-effect of our complex evolutionary past?

From evolutionary biologist Rowan Hooper, an awe-inspiring look into the extremes of human ability—and what they tell us about our own potential—“an intriguing…look at some of the things that make us human—and more” (Kirkus Reviews). In 1997, an endurance runner named Yiannis Kouros...

A groundbreaking investigation of the brain’s hidden logic behind our strangest behaviors, and of how conscious and unconscious systems interact in order to create our experience and preserve our sense of self. From bizarre dreams and hallucinations to schizophrenia and multiple personalities...