The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body

by David Macaulay

book data

30 ratings, 4.23 average rating, 14 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		53%
4		26%
3		10%
2		10%
1		0%

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published

October 7th 2008 by Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books

binding

Hardcover, 336 pages

isbn

0618233784 (isbn13: 9780618233786)

description

In this comprehensive and entertaining resource, David Macaulay
reveals the inner workings of the human body as only he could. In
order to present this ...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 109)

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01/07/09

Punk rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction, picture-book

Read in January, 2009

Non-Fiction. A walk through the human body, starting at the atomic level, moving on to tissues and organs, and ending with reproduction, accompanied with a variety of illustrations. The book is fun (in the appendix, there's an appendix!); the writing can be jokey and the illustrations often include ladders and tiny people commenting on the action. The artwork is colorful and detailed, frequently depicting human systems as factories or machines.

So it's playful, but there's serious sci...more Non-Fiction. A walk through the human body, starting at the atomic level, moving on to tissues and organs, and ending with reproduction, accompanied with a variety of illustrations. The book is fun (in the appendix, there's an appendix!); the writing can be jokey and the illustrations often include ladders and tiny people commenting on the action. The artwork is colorful and detailed, frequently depicting human systems as factories or machines.

So it's playful, but there's serious science going on as well, though the level of detail varies. There were times I had too much information, and times I didn't have enough. The section on the pancreas doesn't even mention diabetes, and the pages on blood groups don't explain positive and negative types. Most of the time I'm sure I didn't even know what I was missing. In general, it's a good overview of the body's systems and the way they work, but not much attention is paid to simple things that can go wrong with those systems. I guess that's a different book.

At times the text made more sense than the diagrams or vice versa, and sometimes the text failed to explain the illustrations at all, leading me to wonder, "What am I looking at?" But when Macaulay gets it right, the illustrations work perfectly with the text to explain things with little arrows and cut-away views. The artwork is also very consistent; for example, yellow lines are nerves, and green ones denote lymph systems; this really becomes useful towards the end where you're dealing with cut-aways that are crawling with vessels and tendons and glands.

One of the best things about this book is that each pair of facing pages deals with one idea. The next pair do something else, and though each pair builds on previous information, it's in a way that doesn't require much, if any, flipping back and forth to refresh your memory.

Now, supposedly kids are the target market for this book. I first saw it in a newsletter for kids' books, and some of the libraries in my system have it cataloged as juvenile, but unless your juvenile's taken high school level chemistry and biology, they're not going to make it past the first chapter. The subsequent chapters are a little less science-intensive, but still rather complicated. The chapter on reproduction bypasses sex almost entirely, dealing instead with the mechanics of the sexual organs and conception, so if by chance your young child is a whiz at chemistry but knows nothing about sex, you'll find that section will definitely require additional explanation.

Four stars for introducing complex physical systems with humor and big goofy pictures. As a non-juvenile, I enjoyed the book. Despite its omissions, I never felt like I was being talked down to and I learned some stuff that I definitely should have already known. I must have been asleep that day in biology.(less)

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10/20/08

Edie rated it:

Read in October, 2008

Macaulay takes apart our bodies and organizes them by function, with humor, intensity and his characteristic artistic skill. The complexity is profound, his respect, clear and the explanations perhaps more complete than some would want, but very informative. A book for all the family to read in bits and pieces, as the spirit, or their body, moves them.

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06/26/08

Jonathan rated it:

In a companion volume to THE WAY THINGS WORK, Macaulay tackles anatomy and physiology. The best nonfiction book of the year--and one of the very best in any genre.

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07/23/08

K rated it:

bookshelves: children, partly-read

I mostly just flipped through it. I was bored. Thought it would be more captivating. Well done book, just not for me.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

10/16/08

Sally rated it:

bookshelves: newton-s-universe, to-read-library-has

When I first pick up a book, I simultaneously take in several factors: look/design (is it pleasing, appropriate to subject?), table of contents (it should reflect what the whole of the book is about), index (IS THERE ONE, and how efficient is it). Then I look something up, either from the contents or the index.

In this book, I found that it is very pleasing to the eye, and the contents AND index are terrific. There's even a glossary.

I was also quite pleased to see tha...more

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05/21/09

Heather rated it:

bookshelves: 2009, young-adult-favorites

Read in May, 2009

I found this in the children's section, but I think (comprehension-wise) it would take at least a middle-school-aged student to follow along. (Trust me on this one - there's a lot of terminology that would have thrown me off without my college courses in physiology, microbiology, neuroscience, etc.) That being said, I think it is a GREAT overall look, and I think the pictures are simpler than the text. This is definitely an accurate representation that doesn't oversimplify.

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01/15/09

Agathafrye rated it:

bookshelves: juvenile, nonfiction

WOW. I wish I had had this book when I was younger. I would have definitely memorized all of my bones, etc; if I had this exhaustive and richly illustrated book to guide me.

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05/21/09

stillme rated it:

bookshelves: awards, nonfiction

Read in May, 2009

ALA ALSC Notable 2009.
Great for the 8-14 kids who always ask "why"

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05/06/09

Claudia is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading

I'm using this book to begin my studies on human antomy.

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10/05/08

Nicole rated it:

bookshelves: hbs-events, nonfiction

Read in October, 2008

recommends it for: those who give attention to detail, those who already know and love D Mac

I may not be popular for saying this, but David Maculay is just not my style. I appreciate the genius behind his books, but they are not ones I hold near and dear to my heart.

Not to be all SB about it, but I think I like the man more than his work. And so it should come as no surprise that I greatly enjoyed working his event. Daddy Mac likes to talk, no question about that, but his slides were interesting and I was okay with the almost hour long presentation.

I'm stoked...more

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03/26/09

Alnora added it

bookshelves: informational-books

Fun way to learn about the human body; its parts, how it works, etc.

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11/04/08

Anne rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading, non-fiction

Read in April, 2009

I love this book and wish I owned it. I'm such a geek.

The illustrations are fun, (most) of the explanations are approachable without being so watered down as to be worthless, and it's a fun experience. David Macauley is a god.

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10/06/08

Mimo rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in November, 2008

recommended to Mimo by: NPR

I didn't actually read it all the way through, but it was a very cool book to look at and the parts I did read were great. Would make a good coffee table/ gift book.

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05/14/08

Susan rated it:

Read in May, 2008

Creative and informative book about the human body from artist extraordinare David Macaulay. I've only seen an excerpt so far, I can't wait to see the rest of the book.

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3 comments