The Remarkable Life of the Skin: An intimate journey across our surface

Description

The Remarkable Life of the Skin is a user's guide to the physical, psychological and social importance of the body's largest, most visible and yet most misunderstood organ. How does our diet affect our skin? What makes the skin age? And why can't we tickle ourselves? Providing a cover for our delicate and intricate bodies, the skin is our largest and fastest growing organ. We see it, touch it and live in it every day. It's a habitat for a mesmerizingly complex world of micro-organisms and physical functions that are vital to our health and our survival. It's also one of the first things people see about us and is crucial to our sense of identity. And yet how much do we really know about it? Through the lenses of science, sociology and history, Dr Monty Lyman leads us on a journey across our most underrated and unexplored organ and reveals how the skin is far stranger and more complex than you've ever imagined.

Dr Monty Lyman is a doctor and research fellow at the University of Oxford. His first book, The Remarkable Life of the Skin, was shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Science Book Prize, was a Radio 4 Book of the Week and a Sunday Times Book of the Year. He has given many talks at national conferences and has won several essay prizes, including the 2020 Royal Society of Medicine pain essay prize. He lives in Oxford, England.

This microsopic look at skin is crawling with revelations, from tiny mites to cellulite and skin care... An exciting introduction to a little-known universe and to a talented new writer. * Sunday Times * A seriously entertaining book... Here are things you wish you'd known about the skin years ago... Clever, optimistic. * The Times * Lyman peels back the science on human skin in this absorbing, fact-packed study. * Nature * Beautifully written, revealing and surprising, this is a fascinating guide to the secret life of the skin. * Daily Mail * An unexpectedly great adventure. * Sunday Times *