Monty Lyman

The Remarkable Life of the Skin

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This “seriously entertaining book” explores the skin in its multifaceted physical, psychological, and social aspects (Times, UK).
Providing a cover for our delicate bodies, the skin is our largest and fastest-growing organ. We see it, touch it, and live in it every day. It is a habitat for a mesmerizingly complex world of micro-organisms and physical functions that are vital to our health and survival. One of the first things people see about us, skin is also crucial to our sense of identity. And yet much about it is largely unknown to us.
With rigorous research and lucid prose, Monty Lyman explores our outer surface through the lenses of science, sociology, and history. He covers topics as diverse as the mechanics and magic of touch (how much goes on in the simple act of taking keys out of a pocket and unlocking a door is astounding), the close connection between the skin and the gut, what happens instantly when one gets a paper cut, and how a midnight snack can lead to sunburn.
The Remarkable Life of the Skin takes readers on a journey across our most underrated and unexplored organ. It reveals how our skin is far stranger, more wondrous, and more complex than we have ever imagined.
This book is currently unavailable
372 printed pages
Original publication
2020
Publication year
2020
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Quotes

  • Aksenova Ekaterinahas quoted4 years ago
    both an individual and societal level, our physical skin is intertwined with our very being. Foucault argued that any intentional physical change to the appearance of the skin, from Botox to body art, is a ‘technology of the self’.10 We change our bodies ‘in order to attain a certain state of happiness, purity, perfection or immortality’. When we change our skin, we change ourselves.
  • Aksenova Ekaterinahas quoted4 years ago
    one of the least transmissible infectious diseases and 95 per cent of people are naturally immune to it.15
  • Aksenova Ekaterinahas quoted4 years ago
    known reservoirs of M. leprae is the nine-banded armadillo, as this little armoured animal shares the same cool body temperature as human skin
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