Reviews

In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration by Shane O'Mara

tnews333's review against another edition

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5.0

If you are in need of some motivation this book has it. And it has wonderful explanations of science that is so far removed from my basic or even my masters level training as to be amazing. Read it while being active via audiobook.

sequoia1024's review against another edition

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3.0

As someone with a bio/psych background and who already loves walking, it's a pleasant read, just that I don't feel I learned much new.

elleryvt's review against another edition

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2.0

“The core lesson of this book is this: walking enhances every aspect of our social, psychological and neural functioning. It is the simple, life-enhancing, health-building prescription we all need, one we should all take in regular doses...we need to make walking a natural, habitual part of our everyday lives.”

Couldn’t agree more with his premise and purpose. The book itself is a bit boring though.

annw's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoy walking, so this book seemed a good fit for me.

The first 10% of the book is very thorough, going through the importance of walking from a neuroscience perspective, and I did wonder at this point what else he could find to say about walking: whether the rest was just going to be filler content.

I was glad to discover that I was wrong. Moving from the neuroscience in the first 10% he moves into a wide range of other areas: genetics, developmental biology, bipedal adaption, how we learn to walk, how walking works (the complex brain systems involved), the brains mapping system, urban planning, walking in nature and creativity in walking.

This book is well written and easy to read - using sciencific experiments frequently to illustrate his point, and has case studies from all over the world.

An interesting read about something that we all do (and probably should do more of!)

sarahelizabeth205's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

varwalnej's review against another edition

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informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

2.0

toastman27's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

breadandmushrooms's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

coraskene's review

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informative

3.25

anneof221b's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

1.5

Walking is good for your brain and your body. You've read that sentence, so you don't need to bother with this book, which read like an annotated bibliography.