Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense

Although vital to our well-being and even to our success as a species, the physical sense of balance has never attained the same recognition as sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste. Now, with an epidemic of debilitating falls sweeping America's aging population, the time is ripe for a lively and illuminating tour of the human body's most exquisitely intricate and least understood faculty. BALANCE is the first book written for a general audience that examines the mysteries of the human balance system--the astonishingly complicated mechanisms that allow our bodies to counteract the force of gravity as we move through space. A scientific, historical, and practical exploration of how balance works, BALANCE also provides the keys to remaining upright for as long as humanly possible. From simple motion sickness to astronauts' "space stupids," and from fetal somersaults to the Flying Wallendas, McCredie guides readers on a delightful quest to elevate balance to its rightful place in the pantheon of the senses.

“'Technical and scientific data conveyed with clarity; the consequences for individuals explored with engaging humanism: high marks all round' - KIRKUS REVIEWS”

Scott McCredie is an award-winning journalist who has written about topics ranging from slugs to tsunamis for Smithsonian Magazine, and about travel, health, fitness and many other subjects for the Seattle Times.

A scientific, historical, and practical exploration of that underappreciated sixth sense: balance - how it works (and fails), how it's perfected in different cultures, and what it can tell us about toddlers, tightrope walkers and dyslexics.Most of us take our sense of balance for granted - until we begin to lose it. In the past 30 years, however, new research - particularly studies of the brain - has finally revealed the remarkably intricate complexities of the human balance system and the critical part it plays in our physical health. Balance is the first book written for a general audience that examines the mysteries of the human balance system, including: why some researchers think Vincent Van Gogh may have suffered from Meniere's Disease; how a French physiologist first demonstrated a connection between balance and the inner ear with an experiment that caused pigeons to turn somersaults; why balance and cognitive skills seem to be interlinked, and how balance therapy is being used to treat kids with dyslexia and ADHD. Scott McCredie takes readers on a delightful quest to unlock the mysteries of the sixth sense.

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