The SECRET FAMILY: TWENTY-FOUR HOURS INSIDE THE MYSTERIOUS WORLD OF OUR MINDS AND BODIES
David Bodanis, author ofThe Secret HouseandThe  Secret Garden, applies his wit and curiosity to another invisible  realm: the insides of our bodies. Bodanis wraps his thought-provoking  investigation of the natural world in the story of a family's typical  day. We follow the baby's explorations of the house, go out with the  family to the mall, and experience the daughter's first kiss. Of  course, your mind still might be reeling from breakfast and the orange  juice--"a liquid which contains embalming fluid, varnish solvent,  vinegar, and nail polish remover ... and a certain amount of real  orange juice, too."All that microscopic reality--the benign bacteria feasting on our  faces, the widening of the pupils as Baby's gaze meets Mom's or Dad's  ("the tiny muscles controlling the pupils in the dad's eyes  suddenly tug wider. Males who don't have children rarely show this  universal sign of interest.")--triggers a host of facts, both  fascinating and appalling; that aforementioned parental gaze segues  into an explanation of the ingredients of baby food ("boiled and  skimmed pigs' feet extract is often used, though in a pinch the scooped  inner pith of discarded fruit can be added, too. Chalk is often added  next"). And that's the least of it...Bodanis's scrutiny is fortified with more than two dozen color  photographs from the Science Photo Library that show the world we live  in but, thankfully, never see. It's amusing, disturbing, and cheerful  in the face of "Ugh!" and "Ah!"--the perfect book  to trigger lively conversations. One thing's for certain: you'll never  again complain that your ordinary day is just too ordinary.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.