Anatomies: A Cultural History of the Human Body
Aldersey-Williams has previously written about buckminsterfullerene (The Most Beautiful Molecule, 1995) and chemical elements (Periodic Tales, 2011). Here he works as a geographer, inspecting the territory of the body while merging medical science with art, literature, history, and philosophy. Anatomic superstars—Andreas Vesalius, William Harvey, and Henry Gray—bask in the spotlight, but they share the stage with the likes of Karel Capek, Gogol, Shakespeare, Descartes, Rembrandt, and Hieronymus Bosch. The book is crammed with curiosities: the recipe for shrinking and preserving a human head, body-snatchers, phrenology, synesthesia (a sort of mingling of the senses), and Einstein’s brain. Aldersey-Williams has us think about the variety of body parts that have infiltrated common idioms: elbow grease, nose around, fight tooth and nail. The enjoyable and unpredictable text is sprinkled with illustrations and concludes with musings on self-transformation (expanding the body’s abilities and extending lifespan). The Greek philosopher Epictetus once warned, “You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.” Whether a work of art, a biological machine, the epitome of evolution, or a cold cadaver, the human body is astonishing. --Tony Miksanek