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Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War |  |
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Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War | |
A New York Times / National Bestseller
"America's funniest science writer" (Washington Post) Mary Roach explores the science of keeping human beings intact, awake, sane, uninfected, and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war.
Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries―panic, exhaustion, heat, noise―and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of U.S. Army Natick Labs and learns why a zipper is a problem for a sniper. She visits a repurposed movie studio where amputee actors help prepare Marine Corps medics for the shock and gore of combat wounds. At Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti, in east Africa, we learn how diarrhea can be a threat to national security. Roach samples caffeinated meat, sniffs an archival sample of a World War II stink bomb, and stays up all night with the crew tending the missiles on the nuclear submarine USS Tennessee. She answers questions not found in any other book on the military: Why is DARPA interested in ducks? How is a wedding gown like a bomb suit? Why are shrimp more dangerous to sailors than sharks? Take a tour of duty with Roach, and you’ll never see our nation’s defenders in the same way again.
15 illustrations 媒体推荐“A mirthful, informative peek behind the curtain of military science.” (Washington Post)
“From the ever-illuminating author of Bonk and Stiff comes an examination of the science behind war. Even the tiniest minutiae count on the battlefield, and Roach leads us through her discoveries in her inimitable style.” (Elle)
“Our most consistently entertaining science journalist…Roach goes where other writers wouldn’t dare….And her search produces images―a kind of technopoetry―that are hard to forget.” (O Magazine)
“[Roach] takes on the challenges the military faces to keep its fighters safe and healthy with her trademark flair (and zingy footnotes).” (Entertainment Weekly)
“Roach is a tenacious investigative journalist with an appetite for the unappetizing...Grunt ranks high in the Roach repertoire.” (USA Today)
“Mary Roach’s latest bit of brilliance….As meticulously researched, beautifully written, and disturbingly funny as her previous books…Grunt examines the science behind war, as well as the researchers who are leading the charge in these state-of- the-art developments. Roach’s prose is a triumph―an engaging blend of anecdote, research, and reflection.” (Boston Globe)
“[Roach] writes exquisitely about the excruciating….wildly informative and vividly written” (Los Angeles Times)
“Nobody does weird science quite like [Roach], and this time, she takes on war. Though all her books look at the human body in extreme situations (sex! space! death!), this isn’t simply a blood-drenched affair. Instead, Roach looks at the unexpected things that take place behind the scenes.” (Wired)
“Roach...applies her tenacious reporting and quirky point of view to efforts by scientists to conquer some of the soldier’s worst enemies.” (Seattle Times)
“Extremely likable…and quick with a quip….[Roach’s] skill is to draw out the good humor and honesty of both the subjects and practitioners of these white arts among the dark arts of war.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“Covering these topics and more, Roach has done a fascinating job of portraying unexpected, creative sides of military science.” (New York Post)
Mary Roach is the author of Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Her writing has appeared in Outside, Wired, National Geographic, and the New York Times Magazine, among others. She lives in Oakland, California.
网友对Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War的评论
This is a difficult topic to even step near with any sensitivity, and to be honest, I was a little wary--most of her other books deal with universal humanity, rather than the small slice of us who volunteer for military service. And it's a tough rail to ride between jingoism and critique, but she manages it well.
She's at her best the further away she is from the battlefield and in the socially-awkward schtick she pulls off so well, such as cornering a SF soldier in a chow hall about diarrhea. She creates herself as an endearing dork, and, honestly, I love it, because her curious dorkitude is something her fans relate to, almost personally.
The only critique I have of this book is it's too short. There's SO much to be said about sleep, and so many other topics to think and write about (nothing on the airborne?!) that it felt a bit thin, though I'm sure it's not. I rather suspect it's a matter of who would allow her access and for what.
If you already like her work, this is another solid addition to your reading list. It might be a good intro to new readers who are interested in the topic (loosely, military science), though I'm not sure that some of the chapters would make it a big seller with families of soldiers and sailors. For me, a veteran, I kept quietly laughing at the examples of military bureaucratic bulls***--so very little of which has changed since I was in!
Having spent over twenty years in the USN in the aviation field, this book was both informative and interesting. Topics such as hearing as well as heat and diarrhea are covered. Shark repellant, flies, genital transplants and safety all have their own chapters and these are just a few of the topics.
The submarine base in Groton, CT, caught my attention as well. The 'Wet Trainer' enables submariners the ability to increase their knowledge of how to save the 'ship'. Fascinating to learn that old methods such as a pine plug cone could be effective in an extreme leak. Also, the USS Tang (1944) and the USS Squalus (1939) incidents were well detailed. I remember the USS Thresher in 1963 but was not familiar with the first two incidents.
The author has interspersed healthy doses of humor in this book. One thing that made me laugh out loud was the chapter on combat medic training. The author found some file drawers labeled 'spleens', 'aortas' and other body parts. She was on her way to the bathroom and when she saw 'head' it was a moment of interest! Another chuckle for me was in the discussion of the contents of the MRE packets. The USN has baby wipes in their packs for toilet purposes and the USMC uses a piece of their tee shirt! Think that none of us could disagree with that statement!
There are so many facts that relate to the manner in which the military is forced to operate that it makes one shake their head. And, sometimes in disbelief at the specifications that the military uses in production of an item.
The chapter that covered safety also brought back memories of my days in the USN on the end of many runways. In the morning our first duty at 0800 was FOD (Foreign Object Damage) walk down. In formation, we walked looking for any object that could cause damage to the engine of an aircraft. And, yes bird strikes were not common but I remember several aircraft engines being damaged by them during my 20 + years.
Of particular interest to the warriors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are the two chapters devoted to genital transplants and injuries below the belt. The author states that there are '300 genito-urological injuries for 18,000 limb amputees'. Finally, some progress is being made in this area for the men affected by this type of injury.
Lots of unknown facts concerning the manner in which the 'powers to be' make decisions on important military items.
Most highly recommended.
Do you have a friend who is very smart, but also super annoying because they have to interject their opinion into every conversation or exchange? That is this book. Lots of really interesting information on undersdiscussed, but important topics; however, Mary Roach's commentary is just plain annoying. I couldn't even finish it because of her very poor attempts to be pithy and clever. This was my first Mary Roach book, so I don't know if that is par for the course, or just this book.
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