The Body Summary

Summary of The Body Book by Bill Bryson

Name: The Body
Rating: 4.7 (16195 reviews)
Author: Bill Bryson

4.7 . 16195 reviews

Short summary

In the bestselling, prize-winning book, “A Short History of Nearly Everything,” Bill Bryson achieved the seemingly impossible by making the science of our world both understandable and entertaining to millions of people around the globe. Now, he turns his attention inwards to explore the human body, how it functions, and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories, “The Body: A Guide for Occupants” is a brilliant, often very funny, attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological makeup. This summary will have you marveling at the form you occupy and celebrating the genius of your existence, time and time again. “Astonishing...You will marvel at the brilliance and vast weirdness of your design.” ~ The Washington Post

19 min

9 key points

19 insights

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Table of content

Summary of The Body
About the author
What is The Body about?
Who should read The Body
Topics in The Body

first key point

How much would it cost in materials to build a human?

Listen the first key point

00:00

Many authorities have tried at various times, mostly for purposes of amusement, to compute how much it would cost in materials to build a human. The most respectable and comprehensive attempt of recent years was made by Britain’s Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) when, as part of the 2013 Cambridge Science Festival, it calculated how much it would cost to assemble all the elements necessary to build the actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

According to the RSC, fifty-nine elements are needed to construct a human being. Six of these — carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus — account for 99.1% of what makes us, but much of the rest is a bit unexpected. Would you believe you would be incomplete without molybdenum, vanadium, manganese, tin, and copper? Though, some of these are only required in parts per million or even parts per billion.

The only thing special about the elements that make you is that they make you. That is the miracle of life.

The biggest component in any human, filling 61% of available space, is oxygen. We are almost two-thirds composed of odorless gas. The reason we are not light and bouncy like a balloon is that the oxygen is mostly bound up with hydrogen (which accounts for another 10% of you) to make water — and water, as you would know if you have ever tried to move a wading pool or just walked around in really wet clothes, is surprisingly heavy.

The biggest component in any human, filling 61% of available space, is oxygen.

Oxygen and hydrogen are also two of the cheaper elements within you. All your oxygen will set you back just $14 and your hydrogen a little over $26. Your nitrogen (2.6% of you) is a better value, still at just 40 cents for a body’s worth. But after that, it gets pretty expensive.

The most astounding thing about us is that we are just a collection of inert components, the same stuff you would find in a pile of dirt.

Furthermore, you need about thirty pounds of carbon, and that will cost you $69,550. Calcium, phosphorus, and potassium, though needed in much smaller amounts, would between them set you back a further $73,800. Thorium costs over $3,000 per gram but constitutes just 0.0000001% of you, so you can buy a body’s worth for thirty-three cents. All the tin you require can be yours for six cents, while zirconium and niobium will cost you just three cents apiece. The 0.000000007% of you that is samarium isn’t apparently worth charging for at all. It’s logged in the RSC accounts as costing $0.00.

Humans are made up of fifty-nine elements, out of which twenty-four are called essential elements, we can’t do without these elements. The rest are something of a mixed bag. Some are clearly beneficial; some may be beneficial, but we are not sure in what ways yet, others are neither harmful nor beneficial but are just along for the ride as it were, and a few are just bad news altogether.

Altogether, according to the RSC, the full cost of building a new human being, using the obliging Benedict Cumberbatch as a template, would be a very precise $151,578.46. Labor and sales tax would, of course, boost costs further.

According to the RSC, the full cost of building a new human being is precisely $151,578.46.

This does not cost a fortune, but hardly really matters. No matter what you pay, or how carefully you assemble the materials, you are not going to create a human being. You could call together all the brainiest people who are alive now or have ever lived and endow them with the complete sum of human knowledge, and they could not between them make a single living cell, never mind a replicant Benedict Cumberbatch.

Did you know? It takes 7 billion billion billion (that’s 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or 7 octillion) atoms to make you.

second key point

The external protective organs: Skin and hair keeps bad things out

The human skin is the largest organ, and possibly the most versatile. It keeps our insides in and bad things out. It cushions blows. It gives us our sense of touch, bringing us pleasure and warmth and pain, and nearly everything else that makes us vital. It produces melanin to shield us from the sun’s rays. It repairs itself when we abuse it. It accounts for as much beauty as we can muster. It looks after us.

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third key point

You are home to trillions of tiny living things that do a surprising amount of work

fourth key point

The heart is the most misunderstood organ of the body

fifth key point

The bone is an amazingly dynamic structure that does a lot more than keep us from collapsing

sixth key point

The immune system is the most interesting organ in the body

seventh key point

Sleeping is the most mysterious thing we do

eighth key point

Diseases are curious things that pop up at random, then go quiet for a time before popping up somewhere else

ninth key point

Conclusion

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What is The Body about?

"The Body: A Guide for Occupants" is an enlightening and captivating exploration of the human body, written by a renowned author. With his signature wit and curiosity, the author takes readers on a fascinating journey through the intricate and awe-inspiring systems that make up our bodies. From the brain to the immune system, Bryson delves into the marvels and mysteries of human anatomy, offering a comprehensive and accessible guide to understanding our own bodies.

Who should read The Body

Medical professionals seeking a comprehensive understanding of the human body.
Science enthusiasts eager to explore the intricacies of human anatomy.
Curious individuals interested in learning about their own bodies.

Topics in The Body

Anatomy the Human Condition Health Medicine Biology Neuroscience Mental Health Aging Self-Care Wellness Nutrition Sleep Grief Diabetes Dementia

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