"This is a wonderful book. Frances Ashcroft has a rare gift for making difficult subjects accessible and fascinating." —Bill Bryson, author of At Home: A Short History of Private Life


What happ...

Buy Now From Amazon

"This is a wonderful book. Frances Ashcroft has a rare gift for making difficult subjects accessible and fascinating." —Bill Bryson, author of At Home: A Short History of Private Life


What happens during a heart attack? Can someone really die of fright? What is death, anyway? How does electroshock treatment affect the brain? What is consciousness? The answers to these questions lie in the electrical signals constantly traveling through our bodies, driving our thoughts, our movements, and even the beating of our hearts.


The history of how scientists discovered the role of electricity in the human body is a colorful one, filled with extraordinary personalities, fierce debates, and brilliant experiments. Moreover, present-day research on electricity and ion channels has created one of the most exciting fields in science, shedding light on conditions ranging from diabetes and allergies to cystic fibrosis, migraines, and male infertility. With inimitable wit and a clear, fresh voice, award-winning researcher Frances Ashcroft weaves together compelling real-life stories with the latest scientific findings, giving us a spectacular account of the body electric.



Similar Products

Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean ScienceThe Emperor of Scent: A Story of Perfume, Obsession, and the Last Mystery of the SensesBlack Holes & Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy (Commonwealth Fund Book Program)The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head: A Psychiatrist’s Stories of His Most Bizarre CasesAccidental Medical Discoveries: How Tenacity and Pure Dumb Luck Changed the WorldElectric Universe: How Electricity Switched on the Modern WorldThe Science of Everyday Life: An Entertaining and Enlightening Examination of Everything We Do and Everything We See