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4+ Works 166 Membros 3 Críticas

Obras por Graham Lawton

Associated Works

New Scientist, 24 January 2009 (2009) — Contribuidor — 2 exemplares
New Scientist, 18/25 December 2021 (2021) — Contribuidor — 1 exemplar

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Críticas

Probably true to say that I knew most of the stuff that was in this book. But Graham Lawton has put it together in a very accessible form and it come with the added authority of the New Scientist behind it. (Well, more or less). He gives credit to a lot of the New Scientist staff. How has it impacted me? A couple of things. I'm still skeptical of a lot of the sleep research ....just seems to me to be too easy to draw a link between just about any symptom and sleep disturbance. Burt whether the lack of sleep contributed to the problem may not be so easy to establish. Anyway, I've resolved to try to go to bed earlier and at more regular hours. (Not that I have any problems getting to sleep). But the drainage hypothesis ...that the brain is busy getting rid of all the built up detritus while you are asleep ...just seems a bit too "pat" to me. Why doesn't it also work while you are awake?
And he's pretty negative about vitamins and supplements. OK, I'll grant you that most of it is probably just excreted but I've just had a cold and it seems that vitamin C and Zinc might be helpful in the recovery process. No worries, just eat lots of leafy green vegetables and walnuts etc. But so happens that, for one reason and another, that the meals I've been having over the last few days have been a bit short on the walnuts and the leafy greens. So it's comforting to know that I have a decent dose of Zinc in the multivitamins and I even upped my intake of vitamin C. Lawton does make the point (very strongly) that nutritional research is very difficult because we all have very varied diets and it's hard to put humans on the same restrictive diets that we might give to mice or rats. And, anyway, our foods interact and interfere with each other in very complex ways. So, the mere fact that the "research" hasn't (yet) shown Vitamin C to be beneficial over a "normal" diet is not necessarily convincing to me.
I was aware of the alcohol- cancer link but he's re-enforced in me the positive benefits of being a teetotaller. (I'm not exactly TT but fairly abstemious). One thing he doesn't discuss is the fact that dieticians routinely say things like "Walnuts are rich in Omega-3 oils" but the actual content depends somewhat on the soils and conditions in which they grow. (There can be a 10-45% variation in the content of a particular component according to US data). And, short of analysing each packet of nuts, you have no way of knowing what your intake actually is.
Time and time again, Lawton returns to a familiar theme: eat plenty of leafy greens, exercise, and get a decent sleep and that's 90% of staying well. (Actually, staying off the grog, not smoking, eating oily fish and nuts get a fair few mentions as well). So how am I doing? Well. generally Ok, I think. Need to get more sleep, maybe an extra helping of wild salmon each week, and eating more walnuts. And my fasting kicks are probably quite good for me. But a useful book. I'm trying to get my son to read a few bits of it. (Don't like my chances). But happy to give it five stars.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
booktsunami | Mar 7, 2024 |
Best for:
Anyone who enjoys learning about little science facts and who enjoys a bit of humor with their writing.

In a nutshell:
Author Lawton examines the minor ailments that afflict all of us at one point or another, looking at their causes and treatments.

Worth quoting:
“Back in the day, before we caught up with our European neighbours and realised taht food was something to be enjoyed rather than endured, the only place in Britain where olive oil could be purchased was a pharmacy.” (this comes from the section on earwax)

Why I chose it:
I enjoy little pop science books.

Review:
The whole point of this book is that it explores MINOR ailments, so he doesn’t get into the big things like cancer or chronic illness unless as mentioned in passing (e.g. cancer briefly comes up when he’s talking about sunburn). The

This book took me much longer to get through than it should have, and that’s up to me and my attention space, not the writing. Lawton is a talented writer, able to make things like varicose veins and sneezing fits entertaining.

The book is divided into sections that look at pain; skin issues; ear, nose and throat issues; digestive concerns; illnesses; and what he calls self-inflicted wounds (this is where things like hangovers and razor burn are discussed).

I found the book to be genuinely interesting. I learned a few things, and just appreciated Lawton’s style of writing. I also appreciate the amount of research that went into this; overall he covers over 80 different types of ailments and injuries, which meant he had to know learn about over 80 different types of ailments and injuries.

I’d recommend this to anyone who finds such a topic interesting but who isn’t looking to dive super-deep into any one area.

CN: Suicide
An absolutely wild thing I thought I’d mention is that the front of the edition I purchased included a note about the author’s wife, who ended up with a very major illness called musculoskeletal nociplastic pain syndrome, which basically means her brain’s pain receptors got all fucked up, she was in horrible pain with no cause or treatment, and chose to end her own life. Like I said, wild, and I figured perhaps it would be worth mentioning as a warning to anyone who might pick up this book. The book was originally written before this happened, so his wife’s minor ailments are referenced a few times.

What’s next for this book:
I’ll keep it - might refer back to it on occasion when I’ve got a minor health issue that is bothering me.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
ASKelmore | Mar 2, 2024 |
De lo que realmente sucedió en el Big Bang a la invención casual del post-it, la ciencia está llena de descubrimientos sorprendentes. ¿Sabías, por ejemplo, por qué si te acercas demasiado a un agujero negro te succionará como a un fideo (por cierto, se llama «espaguetización»)? New Scientist lo sabe, y te lo explica de manera clara y amena, a través de fotos, infografías y símbolos para informar y entretener al mismo tiempo. Graham Lawton, editor jefe de New Scientist, y la ilustradora Jennifer Daniel emprenden un asombroso viaje lleno de información y revelaciones, desde los orígenes de nuestro Universo (la historia de las estrellas, las galaxias, los meteoritos, la Luna y la energía oscura), haciendo parada en nuestro planeta (los secretos de los océanos, el clima y el petróleo), donde conocerás las claves de la vida (los organismos, las emociones y el sexo), el surgimiento de la civilización (con sus ciudades, la cocina y la destilación), del conocimiento (desde los alfabetos a la alquimia) y de la tecnología (de las herramientas primitivas a la ciencia espacial).… (mais)
 
Assinalado
bibliest | Mar 5, 2018 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
4
Also by
2
Membros
166
Popularidade
#127,845
Avaliação
4.2
Críticas
3
ISBN
19
Línguas
3

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