< p> Whether you're a polar bear giving birth to cubs in an Arctic winter, a camel going days without water in the desert heat, or merely a suburbanite without air conditioning in a heat wave, your comfort and even survival depend on how well you adapt to extreme temperatures. < /p> < p> In this entertaining and illuminating book, biopsychologist Mark Blumberg explores the many ways that temperature rules the lives of all animals (including us). He moves from the physical principles that govern the flow of heat in and out of our bodies to the many complex evolutionary devices animals use to exploit those principles for their own benefit. < /p> < p> In the process Blumberg tells wonderful stories of evolutionary and scientific ingenuity--how penguins withstand Antarctic winters by huddling together by the thousands, how vulnerable embryos of many species are to extremes of temperature during their development, why people survive hour-long drowning accidents in winter but not in summer, how certain plants generate heat (the skunk cabbage enough to melt snow around it). We also hear of systems gone awry--how desert species given too much water can drink themselves into bloated immobility, why anorexics often complain of feeling cold, and why you can't sleep if the room is too hot or too cold. After reading this book, you'll never look at a thermostat in quite the same way again. < /p>
< p> Whether you're a polar bear giving birth to cubs in an Arctic winter, a camel going days without water in the desert heat, or merely a suburbanite without air conditioning in a heat wave, your comfort and even survival depend on how well you adapt to extreme temperatures. < /p> < p> In this entertaining and illuminating book, biopsychologist Mark Blumberg explores the many ways that temperature rules the lives of all animals (including us). He moves from the physical principles that govern the flow of heat in and out of our bodies to the many complex evolutionary devices animals use to exploit those principles for their own benefit. < /p> < p> In the process Blumberg tells wonderful stories of evolutionary and scientific ingenuity--how penguins withstand Antarctic winters by huddling together by the thousands, how vulnerable embryos of many species are to extremes of temperature during their development, why people survive hour-long drowning accidents in winter but not in summer, how certain plants generate heat (the skunk cabbage enough to melt snow around it). We also hear of systems gone awry--how desert species given too much water can drink themselves into bloated immobility, why anorexics often complain of feeling cold, and why you can't sleep if the room is too hot or too cold. After reading this book, you'll never look at a thermostat in quite the same way again. < /p>
Introduction 1. Temperature: A User's Guide 2. Behave Yourself 3. Then Bake at 98.6degreeF for 400,000 Minutes 4. Everything in Its Place 5. Cold New World 6. Fever All through the Night 7. The Heat of Passion 8. Livin' off the Fat 9. The Light Goes Out Epilogue Bibliography Acknowledgments Index
This book is a real treat. Mark Blumberg takes something we normally hardly think about, and makes it into a fascinating topic, with colorful examples from fields as disparate as etymology and entomology. You probably will be repeating many of the stories he tells to those around you, as you discover why a fever may be good for you, or how babies generate their own heat, or how eating disorders interact with body temperature problems. It's entertaining, interesting, and great fun. -- Michael Leon, University of California, Irvine This is an engaging enchilada of a book, wrapping up cold feet, a warm heart, hot sex, and chili peppers, for easy digestion by the general science consumer. Delicious! -- Bernd Heinrich, University of Vermont, and author of The Hot-Blooded Insects: Strategies and Mechanisms of Thermoregulation
Mark S. Blumberg is Professor of Psychology at the University of Iowa.
This book is a real treat. Mark Blumberg takes something we
normally hardly think about, and makes it into a fascinating topic,
with colorful examples from fields as disparate as etymology and
entomology. You probably will be repeating many of the stories he
tells to those around you, as you discover why a fever may be good
for you, or how babies generate their own heat, or how eating
disorders interact with body temperature problems. It's
entertaining, interesting, and great fun.
*Michael Leon, University of California, Irvine*
This is an engaging enchilada of a book, wrapping up cold feet, a
warm heart, hot sex, and chili peppers, for easy digestion by the
general science consumer. Delicious!
*Bernd Heinrich, University of Vermont, and author of The
Hot-Blooded Insects: Strategies and Mechanisms of
Thermoregulation*
There's a little twinkle in Mark Blumberg's eye as he explains the
role of temperature in life on Earth, that essential gleam that
makes books about science successful and appealing...His writing is
clear, a fine balance of explanation, example and ideas.
*Los Angeles Times Book Review*
The need to maintain body temperature within a narrow range is the
biggest single influence on physiology and behaviour, as Mark
Blumberg explains in this little gem of a book, Body
Heat...Blumberg describes the exquisite mechanisms developed by
different species to generate, conserve or lose body heat.
*New Scientist*
This is one of those books that leaves you for a few heady days in
possession of a new key to all mysteries. Written entertainingly
for a popular audience, the book argues that the evolved behaviour
and physical characteristics of most creatures, from the tiniest
nematode worm to the largest whale, is governed by the need to
maintain a comfortable body temperature.
*The Telegraph*
Blumberg...presents a thoroughly interesting book on body
temperature and its many influences, loaded with a marvelously
broad range of topics related to the biology of body temperature.
From structural adaptations, such as ear size, circulatory
patterns, and body shape that have evolved to help maintain body
temperature, to psychological effects of temperature, the
physiology of fevers, and even sexual-thermal metaphors used in
everyday conversation. A host of fascinating aspects of how species
respond to temperature changes are also discussed...Body Heat is
great reading, certain to produce an enlightened appreciation for
how body temperature control is critical for all organisms.
*Choice*
Mark S. Blumberg, in Body Heat, also takes the role of temperature
in human affairs onto a global stage, but his metaphors, languages
and conclusions are neither biblical nor prophetic. Instead he
wants to remind us just how narrow our margins of tolerance are
against that ultimate enemy: cold...Blumberg loves his subject, is
convinced of its importance, and he wants to put across the
intrinsic interest of temperature physiology to a larger audience.
He retains a light touch--and because he is an active researcher in
his own right, is able to bring new information and new insights to
his pages.
*Times Literary Supplement*
This is a marvelous little book. In a volume no larger than a
pocket field guide, Mark Blumberg explains how mammals and some
other organisms maintain high, nearly constant body temperatures,
and then explores many implications of such body heat...Along the
way he expounds on a wide variety of fascinating topics, including
behavioral thermoregulation and the design of Roman baths,
temperature-dependent sex determination in turtles, 'warm-blooded'
insects and flowers, how and why bird brains and mammalian
testicles stay cool, the adaptive role of fever, the relation of
energy balance to dieting and obesity, and even why chili peppers
taste hot...Blumberg's writing is a work of art. He explains
scientific facts and complicated concepts in clear, simple
language. He conveys his own sense of wonder, excitement, and
curiosity...If you are interested in mammals, biology, natural
history, or psychology, you will enjoy reading this little
book.
*Journal of Mammalogy*
In Body Heat, biophysicist Mark Blumberg's exploration of
temperature in the world considers the many ways temperature rules
the lives of animals, from how penguins survive Antarctic winters
to why people survive drowning accidents in winter, but not in
summer. Packed with important scientific insights and a lively
style which lends to leisure browsing, Body Heat is a remarkable
survey.
*Bookwatch*
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