Author Description

Life at the Extremes is a account of the science of survival. It weaves real-life stories with the latest scientific findings to explain what happens to the human body under extreme conditions. What causes mountain sickness? Why is it possible to reach the top of Everest without supplementary oxygen, yet if your plane depressurizes at the same altitude you lose consciousness in seconds? Why are astronauts unable to stand without fainting when they return to Earth? Why do divers get the bends but sperm whales don't? What causes the rapture of the deep? Will men always be able to run faster than women? Why don't penguins feet get frostbite?. Frances Ashcroft explains all this and more with wit and clarity. She introduces a cast of scientific personalities, inventors and explorers who have charted the limits of human survival. She recounts the scientific detective stories involved. And she explores the adaptations that enable some organisms to live in boiling water, acid lakes, or the middle of rocks. Anyone who has ever wondered about what living things can endure will find this book a revelation.