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miq33l's review against another edition
5.0
What are humans adapted to? Daniel Lieberman compiled a great number of sources in order to find an answer to this question. The result is "The story of human body".
It is a very well written, beautifully presented and thoroughly researched book. At times information dense and challenging, it is never too complex for the reader. I thought that perhaps sometimes it could be more engaging, but I enjoyed it tremendously nonetheless.
I highly recommend this book, particularly if you are fascinated by human body, evolution or human health.
It is a very well written, beautifully presented and thoroughly researched book. At times information dense and challenging, it is never too complex for the reader. I thought that perhaps sometimes it could be more engaging, but I enjoyed it tremendously nonetheless.
I highly recommend this book, particularly if you are fascinated by human body, evolution or human health.
grrr22's review against another edition
5.0
I heard about this book on Twitter and it sounded so interesting that I purchased it on Amazon Audible. I couldn't believe that the story had basically five stars and I went into it skeptical. I wasn't disappointed. This story is a master class on the human body. I learned so many interesting things about something I already thought I knew a lot about. The story picks up steam in the middle and latter chapters and I was just really happy that I spent the time reading The Story of the Human Body. Great read.
princesspersephone's review against another edition
5.0
This is hands down one of the best books I have EVER read.
It was first recommended to me by a highly respected individual in the fitness industry who owns and runs his own spine clinic as well as teaches science based fitness workshops across the country. Unexpectedly my "Genetic and Evolutionary Principles of Health" class had it as assigned reading (for obvious reasons) and not only did I get to finally read this amazing book, but also participate in in-depth discussions about the ideas presented.
Daniel Lieberman is a master at coherently guiding the readers through this sometimes dense material. The beginning focuses on what evolution is and how evolution has influenced the development of our species. It takes a more anthropological view at first, going through our ancient ancestors and why certain adaptations were naturally selected for (the answer is almost always 'Climate Change'). From there he talks about both the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution and how that has changes the way evolution impacts our bodies, lives and communities. Lastly, he takes a more medical approach talking about our modern society and the "mismatch diseases" that have arises due to our poorly adapted bodies in these rapidly changing environments.
From back pain, plantar fasciitis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, allergies, running injuries, osteoporosis, obesity, and more...he talks about it all! I have been eager to find a book to recommend to my personal training clients so they can understand their bodies and the dysfunction that arises because of their modern behavior, and this hit the nail on the head. He literally pulled the words right out of my mouth and I often found myself reading later chapters and thinking "Thats exactly what I was telling so and so last week!!". He is no alarmist with how we as a society approach our "mismatch diseases". Instead he explains the science behind it all in easy to follow sections. He gives just enough information for you to understand the complexity of the interactions, but holds off on enough scientific jargon that the average reader would easily find their way through. Only the last chapter is dedicated to the "Okay, so now what?" feeling most people have about our current healthcare environment. Even there he presents rational arguments and predicts your line of reasoning to help guide you to his primary message. That we as a society need to start thinking of our healthcare, governments, communities, and personal habits from an evolutionary perspective.
It was first recommended to me by a highly respected individual in the fitness industry who owns and runs his own spine clinic as well as teaches science based fitness workshops across the country. Unexpectedly my "Genetic and Evolutionary Principles of Health" class had it as assigned reading (for obvious reasons) and not only did I get to finally read this amazing book, but also participate in in-depth discussions about the ideas presented.
Daniel Lieberman is a master at coherently guiding the readers through this sometimes dense material. The beginning focuses on what evolution is and how evolution has influenced the development of our species. It takes a more anthropological view at first, going through our ancient ancestors and why certain adaptations were naturally selected for (the answer is almost always 'Climate Change'). From there he talks about both the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution and how that has changes the way evolution impacts our bodies, lives and communities. Lastly, he takes a more medical approach talking about our modern society and the "mismatch diseases" that have arises due to our poorly adapted bodies in these rapidly changing environments.
From back pain, plantar fasciitis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, allergies, running injuries, osteoporosis, obesity, and more...he talks about it all! I have been eager to find a book to recommend to my personal training clients so they can understand their bodies and the dysfunction that arises because of their modern behavior, and this hit the nail on the head. He literally pulled the words right out of my mouth and I often found myself reading later chapters and thinking "Thats exactly what I was telling so and so last week!!". He is no alarmist with how we as a society approach our "mismatch diseases". Instead he explains the science behind it all in easy to follow sections. He gives just enough information for you to understand the complexity of the interactions, but holds off on enough scientific jargon that the average reader would easily find their way through. Only the last chapter is dedicated to the "Okay, so now what?" feeling most people have about our current healthcare environment. Even there he presents rational arguments and predicts your line of reasoning to help guide you to his primary message. That we as a society need to start thinking of our healthcare, governments, communities, and personal habits from an evolutionary perspective.
cgriesemer's review against another edition
5.0
Just a fascinating book. Amazing how many issues we have introduced to humanity in such a short time.
saanaa's review against another edition
5.0
The Story of the Human Body is a book that should be read by every single person on earth. There is nothing more motivating towards exercise and health than the realisation of how much bad we are doing to ourselves by avoiding physical activity, and how wrong we are about the way we are living our lives. This book does that exactly. The impact our choices make on the ongoing evolution of humans is clearly portrayed in a way to emphasize the importance of change. Simply speaking, we will continue to get fatter, lazier and sicker if we don’t modify our daily activities to become more physically challenging, as well as fixing our diets to ones we can obtain actual nutrients from.
I deeply appreciated the insight of the first part of the book, chapters 2-6, due to the extensive explanation of the evolution of human race. There was so much I didn’t know that the book taught me, such as the existence of Homo Floresiensis – a dwarf version of Homo species living on island of Flores who were ‘driven by natural selection to become small-brained and small-statured in order to cope with lack of food’. The comprehensive descriptions of our species’ early evolution sheds a very bright light on why we are the way we are now, and why we keep getting worse. The epidemic of mismatch diseases in the last few generations is raising the mortality rate due to illnesses such as CVD and diabetes which could be prevented if we just changed the way we eat and how much physical activity we obtain during the day.
In this book, D. Lieberman talks about the comfort of our lives and how it has damaged our physical abilities and has limited our performances in many ways. Due to our acclimatization to convenience and luxury, we have lost – or are losing- many physical traits that have made our lives easier, but the lack of them may contribute to pain, and many mismatch diseases. This realization, if only it could become apparent, could reduce – or maybe even treat or prevent- a lot of pain that the majority of population is in.
This is an extremely eye-opening book, especially to anyone who has the slightest interest in the human body, evolution or health. But it would have a strong effect on anyone reading it, leaving the reader in a motivated state to improve their lives. If only this book was a mandatory read, I believe we would have a chance of living in a (somewhat) healthier world.
Despite being a scientific book, it is not a difficult read. I believe anyone with basic biology knowledge would have no trouble understanding the concept.
I deeply appreciated the insight of the first part of the book, chapters 2-6, due to the extensive explanation of the evolution of human race. There was so much I didn’t know that the book taught me, such as the existence of Homo Floresiensis – a dwarf version of Homo species living on island of Flores who were ‘driven by natural selection to become small-brained and small-statured in order to cope with lack of food’. The comprehensive descriptions of our species’ early evolution sheds a very bright light on why we are the way we are now, and why we keep getting worse. The epidemic of mismatch diseases in the last few generations is raising the mortality rate due to illnesses such as CVD and diabetes which could be prevented if we just changed the way we eat and how much physical activity we obtain during the day.
In this book, D. Lieberman talks about the comfort of our lives and how it has damaged our physical abilities and has limited our performances in many ways. Due to our acclimatization to convenience and luxury, we have lost – or are losing- many physical traits that have made our lives easier, but the lack of them may contribute to pain, and many mismatch diseases. This realization, if only it could become apparent, could reduce – or maybe even treat or prevent- a lot of pain that the majority of population is in.
This is an extremely eye-opening book, especially to anyone who has the slightest interest in the human body, evolution or health. But it would have a strong effect on anyone reading it, leaving the reader in a motivated state to improve their lives. If only this book was a mandatory read, I believe we would have a chance of living in a (somewhat) healthier world.
Despite being a scientific book, it is not a difficult read. I believe anyone with basic biology knowledge would have no trouble understanding the concept.