Living with the Stars

How the Human Body is Connected to the Life Cycles of the Earth, the Planets, and the Stars

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Physics, Cosmology, Nature
Cover of the book Living with the Stars by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver ISBN: 9780191040870
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: January 29, 2015
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
ISBN: 9780191040870
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: January 29, 2015
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

Living with the Stars tells the fascinating story of what truly makes the human body. The body that is with us all our lives is always changing. We are quite literally not who we were years, weeks, or even days ago: our cells die and are replaced by new ones at an astonishing pace. The entire body continually rebuilds itself, time and again, using the food and water that flow through us as fuel and as construction material. What persists over time is not fixed but merely a pattern in flux. We rebuild using elements captured from our surroundings, and are thereby connected to animals and plants around us, and to the bacteria within us that help digest them, and to geological processes such as continental drift and volcanism here on Earth. We are also intimately linked to the Sun's nuclear furnace and to the solar wind, to collisions with asteroids and to the cycles of the birth of stars and their deaths in cataclysmic supernovae, and ultimately to the beginning of the universe. Our bodies are made of the burned out embers of stars that were released into the galaxy in massive explosions billions of years ago, mixed with atoms that formed only recently as ultrafast rays slammed into Earth's atmosphere. All of that is not just remote history but part of us now: our human body is inseparable from nature all around us and intertwined with the history of the universe.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Living with the Stars tells the fascinating story of what truly makes the human body. The body that is with us all our lives is always changing. We are quite literally not who we were years, weeks, or even days ago: our cells die and are replaced by new ones at an astonishing pace. The entire body continually rebuilds itself, time and again, using the food and water that flow through us as fuel and as construction material. What persists over time is not fixed but merely a pattern in flux. We rebuild using elements captured from our surroundings, and are thereby connected to animals and plants around us, and to the bacteria within us that help digest them, and to geological processes such as continental drift and volcanism here on Earth. We are also intimately linked to the Sun's nuclear furnace and to the solar wind, to collisions with asteroids and to the cycles of the birth of stars and their deaths in cataclysmic supernovae, and ultimately to the beginning of the universe. Our bodies are made of the burned out embers of stars that were released into the galaxy in massive explosions billions of years ago, mixed with atoms that formed only recently as ultrafast rays slammed into Earth's atmosphere. All of that is not just remote history but part of us now: our human body is inseparable from nature all around us and intertwined with the history of the universe.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Lisbon Tales by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book The Ordering of the Christian Mind by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book My Antonia by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book Conscience and Authority in the Medieval Church by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book Anatomy for Dental Students by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book Miss Julie and Other Plays by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book The Making of Modern Turkey by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book Poverty Reduction in the Course of African Development by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book Plato and Hesiod by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book Concentrate Questions and Answers Human Rights and Civil Liberties by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book Blackstone's Civil Practice 2019 by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book Cyber Operations and the Use of Force in International Law by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book The Theological Anthropology of Eustathius of Antioch by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Roman Egypt by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
Cover of the book The Metaphysics of Truth by Karel Schrijver, Iris Schrijver
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy