This is a book all about bones. Throughout the last 20 years, I have studied the human skeleton and taught many classes about bones.  However, this book presents information about bones in a more comprehensive way than any other publication that I have come across, and it introduced me to new information. I especially enjoyed the first section of the book, which focuses on the history of studying bones and treating conditions in a medical setting, as well as the section on bone artifacts. It is an easy read (the text is a bit choppy in sections) that would be palatable for even those with just a passing interest in bones. If you are interested in anatomy and medicine or paleontology/paleoanthropology and archaeology, this book would make a great addition to your library. 

Thanks to the publisher, W. W. Norton, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

For anyone who is an anatomy nerd, or just curious aboyt the body, this book is filled with the history of bone. Roy A. Meals, MD, takes the reader on the journey that is biological breakdowns and how medical practice has given us answers to help us live longer.

I’ll preface this review by saying I knew absolutely nothing about bones. I could tell you that it’s the hard stuff that holds our bodies vertical, that they sometimes break but eventually heal and it’s where our red blood cells come from, but beyond that? Nothing.

Bones is a book that is for the initiated and uninitiated alike, although granted the initiated will find that 90% of the content of this book is remedial. The book is divided in three sections: what are bones and what do they do, what happens when bones ‘go bad’ and what innovations have we developed to rectify these problems and how are bones part of humanity’s cultural and artistic history? It also answers interesting questions like how do bones grow from the moment we are born until we are adults and then what happens to them as we age? Meals also covers topics such as the composition of bone and the reasons why bone are so darn strong – both of which, as a neophyte in bone, surprised me.

Meals straddles the line between accessible “everybody” popular science and the more technical side of things, dumbing down the important parts but also adding just a tad more for those who better understand biology and chemistry. In the end, while Bones started out a bit bumpy with Meals’ discussion as to why bones are nature’s greatest building material (i find construction materials boring), later chapters were educational and fun to read.

The only part of this novel that fell flat for me what the anthropological section, which will still be incredibly interesting for many readers.

The author is very passionate about all things bones, including architecture, art and carved items (there’s a photo of a contraption made entirely of bone that folds in and out like an accordion that’s particularly surprising). The author’s enthusiasm for all things bone shines through in every line, but one section that fell flat for me was the last bit of the book dealing with cultural and artistic uses of bone throughout all of human history. Some of this section was interesting but grotesque which, granted, is expected of anything made from the remains of a once living creature. I’d already learned plenty about bones as instruments and tolls during my university degree, so most of the information in this section was not new. Thus, while written in an engaging, accessible and enthusiastic manner, this section above all was a slog for me – but still worth a read for those who haven’t studied bones or have never taken interest in how bones have shaped or been shaped by human cultures into tools, art and games.

Finally, Bones contains several photos taken by the author himself and added a personal touch to such an impersonal subject. The author includes several anecdotal stories regarding the author’s bone-ish hobbies outside the operating theater and amusing hints that his wife is somewhat discomfort with his hobbies. Meals comes across as a quirky and interesting person without delving too excessively on his personal successes, which will undoubtedly give Bones a strong entrance into the popular science genre.

Bones is an under represented subject in popular science – its much more complex and fascinating than our grade school teachers made us believe – and Meals delivers a wonderful reading experience much worth taking.

Also of note, the author has an really interesting blog about..well..bones.

For anyone who loves science or is in the medical field then they will love this book.  Having worked in hospitals for many years it was great to see names I’ve heard off in this book.  It also had reference to bone scanning which was one of my roles. (Although I would have liked a bit more on that subject)
Really informative and actually a very interesting read.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc in return for an honest review

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in science, biology, or medicine!  There is so much more to our bones than is commonly known;  this book is fascinating!  I highly recommend it!

This is how science writing should be done

I loved this book. It has everything I want in science writing: plain explanations, conversational tone, a little bit of the author’s journey, and a fair amount of humor.The book was hard to put down and is at least as good as “The secret life of bones” by Brian Switek, but has a slightly more medical tone. I recommend “Bones” for anyone interested in science.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.