Here are the three books --

When the Air Hits Your Brain – Frank Vertosick (By far the most popular book in PsTL 1135)

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers – Mary Roach

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science - Atul Gawande
(This last one is more difficult to read than the others, but it is quite good. I highly recommend this to studetns who read 5 or more recreational books per year - you should be a good reader to take on this book.)

Check your syllabus for assignment details.

(Note: you can find these in most libraries and bookstores. I had the U of M Bookstore order about 20 copies of each of the above 3 books. Last I looked they can be found in the "non-textbook" area of the bookstore (the West end of the store in basement of Coffman Union.)

Here are examples:

William Clark's "Sex and the Origin of Death

Aging With Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives by David Snowdon

Daniel Levitin's book, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman - A Hmong child encounters US medicine - a clash of cultures.

Potatoes, Not Prozac - by Kathleen DesMaisons Ph. D. - nutrition and brain chemicals - this book contains "good science," but it reads like a self-help book. There are lots of worksheets and stuff that many people do not like -- only read this if you have a strong interest in nutrition, glucose dependancy, and addiction.


Living Terrors - Michael Osterholm and John Schwartz - Biological Weapons - Anthrax - Terrorism

The Malaria Capers – Robert S. Desowitz

AMAZON.COM BOOKS - LOOK HERE FOR BOOK REVIEWS!

Use your local library, the U of M library, the U of M Bookstore, or even the Mpls Public Library

Here are some other books that students have read ...

Death's Acre - William Bass - The body farm.
The Trouble With Testosterone- by Robert M. Sapolsky
Why We Hurt : The Natural History of Pain by Frank T. Vertosick Jr.
"The Strange Case of the Walking Corpse" by Nancy Butcher. This book is a large collection of medical oddities. It's an "OK" book for GC 1135 - but "When the Air Hits Your Brain" is much better.

The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine

AMAZON.COM BOOKS - LOOK HERE FOR BOOK REVIEWS!

Use your local library, the U of M Library, The U of M Bookstore, or even an on-line bookstore.

Mpls Public Library