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Your Body: The Missing Manual
What, exactly, do you know about your body? Do you know how your immune system works? Or what your pancreas does? Or the myriad -- and often simple -- ways you can improve the way your body functions?
This full-color, visually rich guide answers these questions and more. Matthew MacDonald, noted author of Your Brain: The Missing Manual, takes you on a fascinating tour of your body from the outside in, beginning with your skin and progressing to your vital organs. You'll look at the quirks, curiosities, and shortcomings we've all learned to live with, and pick up just enough biology to understand how your body works. You'll learn:
That you shed skin more frequently than snakes do Why the number of fat cells you have rarely changes, no matter how much you diet or exercise -- they simply get bigger or smaller How you can measure and control fat That your hair is made from the same stuff as horses' hooves That you use only a small amount of the oxygen you inhale Why blood pressure is a more important health measure than heart rate -- with four ways to lower dangerously high blood pressure Why our bodies crave foods that make us fat How to use heart rate to shape an optimal workout session -- one that's neither too easy nor too strenuous Why a tongue with just half a dozen taste buds can identify thousands of flavors Why bacteria in your gut outnumbers cells in your body -- and what function they serve Why we age, and why we can't turn back the clock What happens to your body in the minutes after you die Rather than dumbed-down self-help or dense medical text, Your Body: The Missing Manual is entertaining and packed with information you can use. It's a book that may well change your life.
Reader comments for Your Brain: The Missing Manual, also by author Matthew MacDonald:
"Popular books on the brain are often minefields of attractive but inaccurate information. This one manages to avoid most of the hype and easy faulty generalizations while providing easy to read and digest information about the brain. It has useful tricks without the breathless hype of many popular books." -- Elizabeth Zwicky, The Usenix Magazine
"...a unique guide that should be sought after by any who want to maximize what they can accomplish with their mental abilities and resources." -- James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review - Wisconsin Bookwatch
"If you can't figure out how to use your brain after reading this guide, you may want to return your brain for another." -- The Sacramento Book Review, Volume 1, Issue 2, Page 19
"It's rare to find a book on any technical subject that is as well written and readable as Your Brain: The Missing Manual. The book covers pretty much anything you may want to know about your brain, from what makes it up, through how it develops to how to mitigate the affects of aging. The book is easy reading, fact packed and highlighted notes and practical applications. So if you want to learn more about your brain, how it works, how to get the best out of it or just want to stave off the ravages of Alzheimers (see chapter ten for details of how learning helps maintain your brain) then I can't recommend this book highly enough." -- Neil Davis, Amazon.co.uk
"MacDonald's writing style is perfect for this kind of guide. It remains educational without becoming overly technical or using unexplained jargon. And even though the book covers a broad scope of topics, MacDonald keeps it well organized and easy to follow. The book captures your attention with fun facts and interesting studies that any person could apply to their own understanding of human ability. It has great descriptions of the brain and its interconnected parts, as well as providing full color pictures and diagrams to offer a better explanation of what the author is talking about." -- Janica Unruh, Blogcritics Magazine
This full-color, visually rich guide answers these questions and more. Matthew MacDonald, noted author of Your Brain: The Missing Manual, takes you on a fascinating tour of your body from the outside in, beginning with your skin and progressing to your vital organs. You'll look at the quirks, curiosities, and shortcomings we've all learned to live with, and pick up just enough biology to understand how your body works. You'll learn:
That you shed skin more frequently than snakes do Why the number of fat cells you have rarely changes, no matter how much you diet or exercise -- they simply get bigger or smaller How you can measure and control fat That your hair is made from the same stuff as horses' hooves That you use only a small amount of the oxygen you inhale Why blood pressure is a more important health measure than heart rate -- with four ways to lower dangerously high blood pressure Why our bodies crave foods that make us fat How to use heart rate to shape an optimal workout session -- one that's neither too easy nor too strenuous Why a tongue with just half a dozen taste buds can identify thousands of flavors Why bacteria in your gut outnumbers cells in your body -- and what function they serve Why we age, and why we can't turn back the clock What happens to your body in the minutes after you die Rather than dumbed-down self-help or dense medical text, Your Body: The Missing Manual is entertaining and packed with information you can use. It's a book that may well change your life.
Reader comments for Your Brain: The Missing Manual, also by author Matthew MacDonald:
"Popular books on the brain are often minefields of attractive but inaccurate information. This one manages to avoid most of the hype and easy faulty generalizations while providing easy to read and digest information about the brain. It has useful tricks without the breathless hype of many popular books." -- Elizabeth Zwicky, The Usenix Magazine
"...a unique guide that should be sought after by any who want to maximize what they can accomplish with their mental abilities and resources." -- James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review - Wisconsin Bookwatch
"If you can't figure out how to use your brain after reading this guide, you may want to return your brain for another." -- The Sacramento Book Review, Volume 1, Issue 2, Page 19
"It's rare to find a book on any technical subject that is as well written and readable as Your Brain: The Missing Manual. The book covers pretty much anything you may want to know about your brain, from what makes it up, through how it develops to how to mitigate the affects of aging. The book is easy reading, fact packed and highlighted notes and practical applications. So if you want to learn more about your brain, how it works, how to get the best out of it or just want to stave off the ravages of Alzheimers (see chapter ten for details of how learning helps maintain your brain) then I can't recommend this book highly enough." -- Neil Davis, Amazon.co.uk
"MacDonald's writing style is perfect for this kind of guide. It remains educational without becoming overly technical or using unexplained jargon. And even though the book covers a broad scope of topics, MacDonald keeps it well organized and easy to follow. The book captures your attention with fun facts and interesting studies that any person could apply to their own understanding of human ability. It has great descriptions of the brain and its interconnected parts, as well as providing full color pictures and diagrams to offer a better explanation of what the author is talking about." -- Janica Unruh, Blogcritics Magazine
303 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
17 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Matthew MacDonald
179 books25 followersMatthew MacDonald is a science and technology writer with well over a dozen books to his name. He's particularly known for his books about building websites, which include a do-it-from-scratch tutorial (Creating a Website: The Missing Manual), a look at cutting-edge HTML5 (HTML5: The Missing Manual), and a WordPress primer (WordPress: The Missing Manual). He's also written a series of books about programming on and off the Web with .NET, teaches programming at Ryerson University, and is a three-time Microsoft MVP.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 16, 2009
I was hanging out on Facebook one day and O'Reilly Media sent out a status message saying they needed a few people to review a new book Your Body The Missing Manual. I responded and was contacted by an O'Reilly representative who got my shipping information.
Within a couple of days, I received a box. Inside was a stinky (stinky because of the ink and paper they used) book with a green cover.
I didn't really know what to expect. I had planned to compare this to some of the larger encyclopedia-like books that my kids had that were packed with fancy color pictures and diagrams for various aspects of the body. This book isn't like those at all. It is more exposition and less illustration, although there are some very good illustrations in the book. They're just relatively simple compared to other books.
The writing style is very interesting. It is not clinical at all and is littered with sarcastic and sardonic quips. The first chapter -- about your skin -- starts off, in the very first paragraph, talking about robbing a bank wearing a ski mask. When the author wrote about techniques for removing fingerprints to avoid leaving evidence of your involvement at a crime scene, I was beginning to wonder if there was an underlying, hidden agenda in the book.
The text is packed with fascinating callouts that fit in contextually throughout the book. This lets the author pack each chapter with numerous bits of tangential information.
All in all, however, the book is somewhat light on the coverage. This isn't a tell-all, but it is a tell-a-lot. And what it does tell, it tells well. There is a lot of information about latest research and findings. For example, I learned that stretching (in the chapter on muscles) isn't the recommended activity before an aerobic/cardiovascular workout, but that 5-10 minutes of light warm up activity is better.
I learned a lot from this book I didn't know before so I definitely feel more knowledgeable as a result of reading it.
While the other body atlas-type books I've seen seem to be targeted at pretty much all ages, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under the age of 16. The reason I would not recommend this book to younger readers is because Chapter 10, the chapter on sex and reproduction, ventured a bit too far out of my comfort zone into sociological and cultural aspects of sexuality than I would ever feel comfortable letting younger kids read. I'm pretty sure my 10-year old does not needs to learn about "Arousal and the Art of Foreplay," "Reading The Big O," or how to "Engage in mutual exploration."
Within a couple of days, I received a box. Inside was a stinky (stinky because of the ink and paper they used) book with a green cover.
I didn't really know what to expect. I had planned to compare this to some of the larger encyclopedia-like books that my kids had that were packed with fancy color pictures and diagrams for various aspects of the body. This book isn't like those at all. It is more exposition and less illustration, although there are some very good illustrations in the book. They're just relatively simple compared to other books.
The writing style is very interesting. It is not clinical at all and is littered with sarcastic and sardonic quips. The first chapter -- about your skin -- starts off, in the very first paragraph, talking about robbing a bank wearing a ski mask. When the author wrote about techniques for removing fingerprints to avoid leaving evidence of your involvement at a crime scene, I was beginning to wonder if there was an underlying, hidden agenda in the book.
The text is packed with fascinating callouts that fit in contextually throughout the book. This lets the author pack each chapter with numerous bits of tangential information.
All in all, however, the book is somewhat light on the coverage. This isn't a tell-all, but it is a tell-a-lot. And what it does tell, it tells well. There is a lot of information about latest research and findings. For example, I learned that stretching (in the chapter on muscles) isn't the recommended activity before an aerobic/cardiovascular workout, but that 5-10 minutes of light warm up activity is better.
I learned a lot from this book I didn't know before so I definitely feel more knowledgeable as a result of reading it.
While the other body atlas-type books I've seen seem to be targeted at pretty much all ages, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under the age of 16. The reason I would not recommend this book to younger readers is because Chapter 10, the chapter on sex and reproduction, ventured a bit too far out of my comfort zone into sociological and cultural aspects of sexuality than I would ever feel comfortable letting younger kids read. I'm pretty sure my 10-year old does not needs to learn about "Arousal and the Art of Foreplay," "Reading The Big O," or how to "Engage in mutual exploration."
May 21, 2025
This is surprisingly well executed. MacDonald, a tech writer who mainly writes on computing subjects, gives a deft and concise presentation of material more long-winded, pompous diet and lifestyle gurus (e.g., Mark Hyman and Peter Attia) tend to struggle to present and explain, belabor, or beat around the bush with. MacDonald has a few howlers here and there, but I myself would have not been able to complete this kind of book project in such a short length. I felt like it was one of those books that makes you feel like you suck as a writer but, in turn, also makes you a better writer for having read it. (In fairness, MacDonald does seem to have a high-powered editing team at Tim O'Reilly's publishing, and they probably deserve some credit as well.) I wish MacDonald would write more about the life sciences than the typical tedious computing crap such as Michaelsoft Access and MySQL/PHP, but you've got to do what you can to make a living and put food on the table, I guess.
March 4, 2019
This book is 10 years old, so the first concern would be that it might be dated. Well, I have to say that was not my impression at all. Almost everything I found there still applies today.
I myself am quite knowledgeable about the subjects covered in the book, but still there were many factoids that I didn't know and I still learned a few things from it.
This book is easy to read, even if you're not an expert. It doesn't cover everything, but I think it covers the most important aspects of your body that you can influence yourself.
As opposed to many books about health, diet and the like, the advise given in this book is sound, and I agree with all advise given in it. This by itself is remarkable, and must have been a daunting task for the author, given that so much bad advise is available everywhere.
The book is short and easy reading. I would recommend.
I myself am quite knowledgeable about the subjects covered in the book, but still there were many factoids that I didn't know and I still learned a few things from it.
This book is easy to read, even if you're not an expert. It doesn't cover everything, but I think it covers the most important aspects of your body that you can influence yourself.
As opposed to many books about health, diet and the like, the advise given in this book is sound, and I agree with all advise given in it. This by itself is remarkable, and must have been a daunting task for the author, given that so much bad advise is available everywhere.
The book is short and easy reading. I would recommend.
April 2, 2019
It is a basic reading on features of the human body collected from other sources and presented in light text. It is like googling subjects as digestion, skin, vision and reading it. No argument or conclusion.
April 6, 2014
I think this is a wonderful book and that all schools should have it. The author explains the body in a fast , get to the point way but still tells you everything you need to know. There's no long boring paragraphs that put you to sleep and unpronounceable words. I actually enjoyed reading this informational book and learned a lot of new things. I definitely want to read "the missing manual: the brain " .
July 5, 2014
The best book I've ever read on this topic. Fun to read, lots of interesting facts and far more enlightening than many of the more "serious" counterparts. I started to eat better - something no other book on health/body/nutrition could achieve :) And unlike other books, this one didn't take ages to read. I'm definitely getting my hands on other "Missing Manuals"!
Currently reading
June 10, 2012Just started last Friday (06.08.10), I will read it Mon-Fri on my breaks at work.
Looking fwd to learn something on a book that seems really easy to read.
It looks like the Author has created his own version of "anything for dummies", I have never read a "book for dummies" so I do not know if it is about the same.
So far I like the way the book is structured.
Looking fwd to learn something on a book that seems really easy to read.
It looks like the Author has created his own version of "anything for dummies", I have never read a "book for dummies" so I do not know if it is about the same.
So far I like the way the book is structured.
September 9, 2014
Very good one. I wish I had read it like... 20 years ago. And even better if my parents had read it even before I became part of the plan. It's missing a lot of information that I'd like to get, but gives much more unexpected thoughts and ideas. Very motivating.
March 1, 2012
- available in SG NLB 612 (Sengkang)
- very up-to-date & informative.
- very up-to-date & informative.
June 3, 2012
Highly entertaining and informative.
July 27, 2015
Good solid introduction to understanding your body and how it works. Dispelling some of the common held misconceptions.
Read
January 14, 2019Definitely a good book to read to know about body in detail no technical jargon used.
Easy to understand and it has its own rhythm in telling.
Exercise and link to do great help
Easy to understand and it has its own rhythm in telling.
Exercise and link to do great help
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews