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Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War
by
Best-selling author Mary Roach explores the science of keeping human beings intact, awake, sane, uninfected, and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war. Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries—panic, exhaustion, heat, noise—and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them.
Mary Roach dodges hostile f ...more
Mary Roach dodges hostile f ...more
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Start your review of Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War
The Chicken gun has a sixty foot barrel, putting it solidly in the class of an artillery piece. While a four pound chicken hurtling in excess of 400 miles per hour is a lethal projectile…OK, stop right there. Mary Roach’s latest venture into odd science begins with a notion that would likely raise the hackles and maybe the hopes of Rocky the Rhode Island Red of the film Chicken Run.
Yikes!
But Rocky would be better off sticking with the usual modes of transportation for the aeronautically ch ...more
I don't see why so many people are raving over this book. It's a disjointed series of essays giving the research and state of play of various military concerns. All written, as Mary Roach does, in a very populist way with self-deprecating humour inserted so that we know she's just like one of us and not that bright or deep or out of our league (which she probably is. Mine certainly).
There isn't the depth I would like in such a serious and interesting subject except (of course) about shit. In th ...more
There isn't the depth I would like in such a serious and interesting subject except (of course) about shit. In th ...more
Roach has been receiving rave reviews for popularizing (what has been called morbid or gross) science for the last number of years. I had her book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers on my TBR list when Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War became one of Audible’s Daily Deals. I immediately downloaded Grunt and began listening. I’m not sure how I would have reacted to Roach’s other books, but this one didn’t do it for me. For one, her approach to the subject seemed haphazard. Beside
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Having served in the Marines (the entire time in an infantry battalion no less), reading about military gear and health research had me chuckling more than a dozen times, only because of having spent many nights in the rain, or the snow, or a desert, or a jungle, dealing with crap gear, tasteless food, and health risks.
Although much of the book is lighthearted, such as when talking about pooping in the field, the subjects are really life and death serious, which is probably why military members ...more
Although much of the book is lighthearted, such as when talking about pooping in the field, the subjects are really life and death serious, which is probably why military members ...more
Someone else yells, "Blood sweeps!" A corpsman trainee reaches under my back and slides both hands from shoulders to hips. He looks at his hands, checking for blood, for a wound that might have been overlooked. If you don't happen to be wounded, blood sweeps feel lovely.
Mary Roach. What can I say. One of the most entertaining non-fiction writers in existence. I always, always look forward to her books and they never disappoint. She's smart, funny, and compassionate: Ed Rachles is fucking lucky a ...more
Mary Roach. What can I say. One of the most entertaining non-fiction writers in existence. I always, always look forward to her books and they never disappoint. She's smart, funny, and compassionate: Ed Rachles is fucking lucky a ...more
"An army marches on its stomach." ~ Napoleon Bonaparte
"Soldiers fight on their stomachs, but also on their toes and fingers and a decent night's sleep." ~ Mary Roach
Yep, this is Mary Roach Goes to War.
Roach is not Sebastian Junger; she was not embedded, trailing troops into combat zones. That was never her intention. Her book concerns the individuals behind the scenes, those who fight tirelessly to keep soldiers alive.
This book is a salute to the scientists and surgeons, running along in the wa ...more
"Soldiers fight on their stomachs, but also on their toes and fingers and a decent night's sleep." ~ Mary Roach
Yep, this is Mary Roach Goes to War.
Roach is not Sebastian Junger; she was not embedded, trailing troops into combat zones. That was never her intention. Her book concerns the individuals behind the scenes, those who fight tirelessly to keep soldiers alive.
This book is a salute to the scientists and surgeons, running along in the wa ...more
I have to admit I had never heard about Mary Roach or any of her books before, until my attention was drawn to Grunt, after one of my GR friends rated the book 4 stars.
After reading the synopsis and some reviews, I was convinced that I would like this book.
And I definitely did. Not because of the humor with which she writes but because I'm the kind of person that hasn't stopped asking "why?" since I was a toddler.
Grunt provides a lot of information to questions that I have or could have about ...more
After reading the synopsis and some reviews, I was convinced that I would like this book.
And I definitely did. Not because of the humor with which she writes but because I'm the kind of person that hasn't stopped asking "why?" since I was a toddler.
Grunt provides a lot of information to questions that I have or could have about ...more
Jul 26, 2016
Book Riot Community
added it
Mary Roach is one of the few writers that I just wait around, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for her to publish a new book. I don’t even care what the book is about. In fact, I’m pretty sure when I pre-ordered my copy of Grunt, all I knew about it was the title. Mary Roach is a must-read for people like me… people who are fascinated about science but aren’t necessarily knowledgeable on the topic. As in all of her books, Roach explained the science of how the military life impacts human beings in a
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Roach is back for another scientific look at the world around us, this time honing her attention on the US Military. In ways unique to her, Roach is able to look at various aspects of military life and explore the informative components while injecting little known (or considered) facts about the process. Consider, for example the depth to which the Department of Defence has studied various materials for uniforms, from their flammability, coolness (temperature) factor, and even lack of fashion-w
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I have to confess that I didn't find the subject matter as intriguing or original in this book as I have in Mary Roach's previous books. Plenty of other works have covered similar ground (these are the sorts of things that, as a writer, one researches!) and I didn't find a great deal here that I didn't already know or have some conception of. Roach's writing style is as adept and sure as always, but by the end I was hoping for something a little more dramatic and mind blowing than the revelation
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My husband purchased this book and he lasted only four chapters. Don’t worry, this is normal. He loves books but doesn’t usually have the patience/time/want to read them all the way through. It used to bother me until I realized I could push him towards books I am willing to read so I can claim them after he abandons them. He happened upon this one after I told him I wanted to give this author a try. This isn’t the book I had in mind off of her list but it seemed to capture his attention for the
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I bought this book because I kept seeing it in various bookstores throughout the mid-west back in August and I was curious (my background in science and interest in the military helped, too). Seems Mary Roach has been writing a bunch of these books and I had no idea! *I'm blinking in the brightness after crawling from my writer's cave*
The book was a fascinating read and I can't believe how much thought, time, and money goes into something like uniform fabrics. And I can't believe what Mary was w ...more
The book was a fascinating read and I can't believe how much thought, time, and money goes into something like uniform fabrics. And I can't believe what Mary was w ...more
The science of keeping military personnel alive and intact covers many areas of expertise and I was kind of surprised that Mary Roach got so much access and cooperation. The military representatives' honesty about the science behind catastrophic injury, amputation, hearing loss, dysentery, human stress and panic reactions, sleep deprivation, and the casualties of war was astounding to me. Amazingly, they let her on a deployed nuclear ballistic submarine. As with all her books, I learned lots of
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Roach (quoting the publisher’s description), “…explores the science of keeping human beings intact, awake, sane, uninfected, and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war.” And Mary says, “I'm interested in the parts that no one makes movies about -- not the killing but the keeping alive."
I have loved every book Mary Roach has written (STIFF is still my favorite, followed by PACKING FOR MARS) and was waiting with great anticipation for her next book, but quite frankly, when I he ...more
I have loved every book Mary Roach has written (STIFF is still my favorite, followed by PACKING FOR MARS) and was waiting with great anticipation for her next book, but quite frankly, when I he ...more
With this offering Mary Roach sticks to her usual formula of investigative reporting with a touch of self-deprecating humour. Essentially, she delves into ways that science is used to facilitate warfare and improve conditions for fighting men and women both pre- and post-warfare. Throughout, she maintains an easy conversational tone and relates her findings in terms anyone can understand. I remember thinking that she described some of the physical afflictions, such as heat-related medical emerge
...more
Mary Roach has done it again with another great book about the more macabre side of science. It's packed full of interesting facts and explanations of different processes that is easy to read while being entertaining. Highly recommended for those who love learning.
Unbiased rating based upon a copy won through the Goodreads First Reads program. ...more
Unbiased rating based upon a copy won through the Goodreads First Reads program. ...more
I love Mary Roach's approach to her subjects. Such enthusiasm! I gobbled Grunt up in one sitting. Got quite an education on maggots as medicine.
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Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach is another wonderful book by a women that tackles subjects and picks them apart for us readers. I have read all her books and love every one of them. The first few books were so funny that I laughed in every one but she has been getting into my serious stuff lately. She still makes reading light where she can but what I enjoy is that she finds things about the subject, in this case, humans at war, and explores the smallest things that we
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AHHHHHH NEW MARY ROACH!
Update: This was almost Gulp-level good. Does not even come close to Stiff, but, what could?
Update: This was almost Gulp-level good. Does not even come close to Stiff, but, what could?
"These are the people I want to speak with. I'm interested in diarrhea as a threat to national security. How would the takedown of Osama bin Laden have played out had one of the SEALs been fighting the forces of extreme urgency? How often is food poisoning the cause of a mission fail?" (152)
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach is a combination of hilarious intrigue, informative data, and the consequences of service from a variety of battlefield conditions soldiers have conti ...more
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach is a combination of hilarious intrigue, informative data, and the consequences of service from a variety of battlefield conditions soldiers have conti ...more
Mary Roach is a hoot. In her introduction, she says this book isn't about the typical military stuff. She doesn't shine a spotlight, but is a 'goober with a flashlight' looking around in all the odd nooks & crannies. For instance, she starts her introduction discussing the chicken gun. Yes, it shoots chickens to test how well aircraft & other things stand up to bird strikes. No gory details, just a slightly humorous discussion of bird sizes, densities, & how the tests protect the pilots.
Table of ...more
Table of ...more
In Grunt, Ms. Roach looks at what the scientists working for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) are doing to support the men and women going in harms way. In her research she visits several DoD research centers and bases. She talks to the people doing the research, those developing the products based on that research and probably most importantly to the people who will be using those products.
The first the topic she looks at is how the military develops uniforms and the requirements behind the ...more
The first the topic she looks at is how the military develops uniforms and the requirements behind the ...more
I first must admit that I've loved Mary Roach's books since I discovered Stiff, so I'm not sure that this is a totally unbiased review. She is able to take subjects that shouldn't be in any way, shape, or form entertaining, and she not only makes them interesting but real and engaging.
She goes beyond the obvious in this, and all her books, to find the odd and the obscure. (Where does she find this stuff?! 22 pages of button specifications in the military fashion handbook???? Chicken guns????)
Be ...more
She goes beyond the obvious in this, and all her books, to find the odd and the obscure. (Where does she find this stuff?! 22 pages of button specifications in the military fashion handbook???? Chicken guns????)
Be ...more
This was really interesting! It's a thorough examination of a few niche areas of military science, but not much else. It's doesn't really try to contextualize that science within the broader American Machine of War, which is its great shortcoming.
I understand that Roach's avoidance of reckoning with the bloody, exploitative legacy of the American military was probably because that is almost too large to grapple with. But the entire lack of that context left me feeling... Not Great. ...more
I understand that Roach's avoidance of reckoning with the bloody, exploitative legacy of the American military was probably because that is almost too large to grapple with. But the entire lack of that context left me feeling... Not Great. ...more
Actually 3 and 1/2 stars
Not my favorite Mary Roach novel. Still amazing, I mean it is Mary Roach. I just felt like she could only be a spectator a reporter for this book, whereas, so many of her books she is a huge participant. She did participate when she could, this is Mary, but due to a lot of it being military and government stuff, she could only tell us their stories. Still an amazing book. Mad props to the men and women of the Armed Service and all those who support them, whether it be, fa ...more
Not my favorite Mary Roach novel. Still amazing, I mean it is Mary Roach. I just felt like she could only be a spectator a reporter for this book, whereas, so many of her books she is a huge participant. She did participate when she could, this is Mary, but due to a lot of it being military and government stuff, she could only tell us their stories. Still an amazing book. Mad props to the men and women of the Armed Service and all those who support them, whether it be, fa ...more
New Mary Roach book?
If you are a fan of Mary Roach books, this does not disappoint. This book mostly pokes around the hidden underbelly or hidden corners of the military industrial complex, where there are large research budgets dedicated to all kinds of scientific discovery. Roach does a great job reminding people why these things matter. For example, it matters the kind of fabric soldiers are wearing, because it can have serious effects when they are shot at or things explode. Like Packing fo ...more
Maybe more like a 3.5?
I cannot believe the military cooperated with the author so willingly! I realize no top secret information was divulged, but still! Also I realized there really isn't one chapter appropriate to discuss at the dinner table. I thought," oh, I can't wait to tell_ this tomorrow night." Then I remembered we would be eating. ...more
I cannot believe the military cooperated with the author so willingly! I realize no top secret information was divulged, but still! Also I realized there really isn't one chapter appropriate to discuss at the dinner table. I thought," oh, I can't wait to tell_ this tomorrow night." Then I remembered we would be eating. ...more
Informative and witty, as always with the inquisitive Mary Roach. It turns out that my pacifist self is even less interested in the science of war than I had anticipated, so this collection didn't hold up to her other five. If you have not yet read any of them, I suggest trying Bonk or Stiff. Those are both excellent.
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This book is a salute to the scientists and the surgeons, running along in the wake of combat, lab coats flapping. Building safer tanks, waging war on filth flies. Understanding turkey vultures.
I've only read one other Mary Roach (Stiff, which I remembered as worthwhile, but rereading my review for it just now, I realise that I wasn't that impressed by it at the time), and Grunt follows the familiar path: Roach is given free access to the scientists working behind the scenes on a topic (in t ...more
I honestly never knew war was so...complicated. I don't think I ever considered how important it is for soldiers to have underwear that is lightweight, durable, AND moisture-wicking. Or how damaging birds can be to military aircraft. Or how vital it is to have a good surgeon around when you've experienced lower body trauma. (Yikes.)
Grunt is a unique book, to say the least. It would have been easy for Roach to get bogged down in the detailed ridiculousness of it all, but she never does. It's obvi ...more
Grunt is a unique book, to say the least. It would have been easy for Roach to get bogged down in the detailed ridiculousness of it all, but she never does. It's obvi ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play Book Tag: Grunt - Mary Roach - 4* | 2 | 12 | Mar 31, 2019 04:55AM | |
| Play Book Tag: Grunt by Mary Roach - 4 stars | 3 | 15 | May 22, 2017 06:40PM | |
| Around the Year i...: Grunt, by Mary Roach | 1 | 15 | Jan 26, 2017 11:42AM | |
| Goodreads Librari...: Please add/update details | 3 | 18 | Dec 08, 2016 06:16AM | |
| Pleasant Valley L...: July Book - Grunt | 5 | 10 | Aug 04, 2016 11:30AM |
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Mary Roach is the author of the New York Times bestsellers STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers; GULP: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, PACKING FOR MARS: The Curious Science of Life in the Void; and BONK: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.
Her most recent book, GRUNT: The Curious Science of Humans at War, is out in June 2016.
Mary has written for National Geographic, Wired, Discover ...more
Her most recent book, GRUNT: The Curious Science of Humans at War, is out in June 2016.
Mary has written for National Geographic, Wired, Discover ...more
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As we wrap up our 2018 Reading Challenge, we decided to ask our Goodreads coworkers a simple yet tough question: What were the...
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“Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history. Sometimes a chicken can save a man’s life.”
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“How about suicide rate. And what a shame to lose them after they’ve made it back. We keep them alive, but we don’t teach them how to live.”
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