Super Senses: The Science of Your 32 Senses and How to Use Them

Description

How do you sniff out danger? What is a sense of direction or a gut instinct? You know about your five senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. But recent research has shown that we actually have at least thirty-two. We take our senses for granted but what would be possible if we properly understood how they all work? Award-winning science writer Emma Young has spent over a decade finding out, and in Super Senses she takes us on an exhilarating sensory journey, revealing how we taste things without using our tongues, why swearing is good for us and why both chocolate and rollercoasters can help you fall in love. Using the very latest cutting-edge research, she explains the exploits of record-breaking freedivers, whirling dervishes, super-tasters, stock market millionaires, and many more. Discover how touch can ease pain, how taking your pulse can make you fitter and why Abba's Dancing Queen sounds different in Bolivia. Sharing surprising secrets from blind ballerinas, voodoo priests and even a nurse who can smell Parkinson's disease before it is diagnosed, Super Senses uncovers the science behind these abilities that make us human - and offers fascinating lessons in how we can all learn to use them better.

Emma Young is an award-winning science writer and a former editor on New Scientist. Her articles have been published in the Guardian and the Atlantic. While researching this book she learnt how to echolocate like a bat, have an out of body experience, and trick strangers into liking her. She lives in Sheffield with her husband and two children.

After reading this fascinating book you'll never think about your senses in quite the same way again -- CLAUDIA HAMMOND Absolutely fascinating . . . meticulously researched, expertly written, and packed with so many engrossing nuggets, every page is a remarkable revelation. Young has given me new understanding - and profound respect - for my incredible sensory body -- GAIA VINCE An awe-inspiring guide to our sensual world that will leave you in wonder at your own astonishing perceptual powers. With cutting-edge science and extraordinary personal stories, Emma Young offers evidence-based strategies to protect and fine-tune many of those abilities - with potentially life-changing consequences. Along the way, Super Senses busts some of the most enduring myths about the human body and mind -- DAVID ROBSON, author of THE INTELLIGENCE TRAP This book changed the way I sense the world. I'd say eye-opening but that's too limiting: this is sense-opening stuff -- ROWAN HOOPER, author of SUPERHUMAN A vivid, multi-sensory journey through farflung landscapes of human experience . . . packed with scientific revelations and compelling stories . . . A sensory delight that made my world a richer place -- Jo Marchant, author of CURE and THE HUMAN COSMOS Fascinating . . . unlocks the secrets of our amazing brains and bodies * Daily Mail * Packed with fascinating information and highly readable * Human Givens vol 28.1 *