
Jennifer Ackerman is the author of Notes from the Shore and Chance in the House of Fate. The recipient of a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and literature fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College, she writes for National Geographic, the New York Times, and other publications.
"It's rare to find a book that delivers so much knowledge in prose that's such an enormous pleasure to read." --Miriam E. Nelson, Tufts University, and author of Strong Women Stay Young
"Jennifer Ackerman writes with the precision of a scientist and the elegance of a poet . . . invigorating, informed, insightful, and wise." --Steve Olson, author of Mapping Human History and Count Down "A fascinating look at what modern science tells us about who we are." --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe "A delightful picaresque . . . You'll never think about your body--and what you do to it--in the same way again." --Stephen S. Hall, author of Size Matters and Merchants of Immortality "Ackerman offers a pleasant day's diversion." Publishers Weekly "An insightful text celebrating just how clever is the machine we call the human body." Kirkus Reviews Ackerman has hit her stride [with] a virtual full-body scan conducted over the course of 24 hours." Booklist, ALA "A readable and remarkably comprehensive tour of all that is new and intriguing in the study of normal human physiology." --Abigail Zuger, M.D.