Book Review: A Quirky Tour of the Human Body

In “The Body: A Guide for Occupants,” Bill Bryson meanders around our bodies’ viscera and skeleton, always on the lookout for interesting landmarks and overlooked perspectives, from skin (“our largest organ”) and hair to the brain (“strikingly unreliable’’) and the marvels of the human microbiome.

By Abigail Zuger, M.D.
12.06.2019
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Editorial Mission
Undark Editorial Mission
We illuminate the complicated and fractious places where science collides with politics, economics, and culture, and where differing world views compete for resources and influence. Learn more here.
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ICYMI Highlights

Book Review: ‘Harold Edgerton: Seeing the Unseen’

The new book, “Harold Edgerton: Seeing the Unseen,” provides a fresh look at the pioneering work of the electrical engineer and innovative photographer. It includes more than 100 photographs and newly released selections from his notebooks, along with essays from former colleagues and MIT Museum curators.

By Peter Essick
11.29.2019
Could Ratings Help Assess Popular Science Claims?

Amid the scramble to publish popular science best-sellers centered on big ideas based on research with varying degrees of reliability, one author created a numerical rating system to acknowledge that some of his ideas have more evidence to back them than others, and that some may even turn out to be wrong.

By Christie Aschwanden
11.25.2019
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