Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense

by Scott McCredie

Book Overview

Although vital to our well-being and even to our success as a species, the physical sense of balance has never attained the same recognition as sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste. Now, with an epidemic of debilitating falls sweeping America's aging population, the time is ripe for a lively and illuminating tour of the human body's most exquisitely intricate and least understood faculty.

Balance is the first book written for a general...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316011355
• ISBN13: 9780316011358
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Balance book is thorough

This is a wonderful layman's description of how the balance system works, and about individual vestibular problems. It should be of interest to anyone with a vestibular problem, including Parkinsons, Menieres, BPV etc.Family members and friends should read it too.

Full of amazing revelations

This is a fantastic book. Fun, clear, easy to read, and full of amazing facts I never knew before which have changed the way I see things.

Balance

Mr. McCredie, while on a hike with his father, witnesses his dad simply drop from sight...he fell, lost his balance. From here Mr. McCredie shares with us his research on this sense. I was hitherto unaware of the magnitude of its importance. Happily, I am not in small minded company as Aristotle, Scott writes, did not include balance in his original list of our senses. Balance's history has been facinating...sea sickness, cognitive thinking, a walk in the park, pilots' training, infants' cognitive abilities, camels, Lawrence of Arabia, Lord Nelson, war, astronauts, birds and cats,the mentally ill, and John F. Kennedy, Jr. are just a few of the people and subjects Scott connects by this sense. I am glad I read the book. As a literary interviewer for Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, I choose Scott McCredie's book initially because his writing style is compatible with my reading style, i.e.,tell me or teach me information on almost any subject, have it reach my brain in an interesting way and do it cleanly and clearly. Scott does all the above despite my having to grapple with science.

a fun read

This was a fascinating book. Mccredie makes a convincing case for including balance as a 6th sense, supporting his thesis with interesting examples from medical research, historical examples, and personal accounts. The bit about JFK Jr's plane crash attributed to a confused vestibular system was particularly good, and the other stories (the "brainport" device, for one) lent contemporary credence to his ideas. He's a great writer, and covers all the bases. I learned a lot. Highly recommended.

Great book!

entertaining & informative! very well written & researched... I'd love to meet the author & find out more...