Mary Roach

"For two thousand years, cadavers-- some willingly, some unwittingly-- have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to bunion surgery, cadavers have helped make history in their quiet...

Few of us realize what strange wet miracles of science operate inside us after every meal. In her trademark style, Mary Roach investigates the beginning, and end, of our food, addressing such questions as why crunchy food is so appealing, how much we can eat before our stomachs burst, and whether constipation killed Elvis.

The author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers?...

Roach shows how and why sexual arousal and orgasm can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to make the bedroom a more satisfying place.

Explores the science of keeping humans healthy and focused in the extreme environments of war, drawing on interviews with doctors, trainers, and weapons testers to illuminate how soldiers are conditioned to survive traumas.