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The Curious Human Knee
Brief Description
Winner, 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title Bronze Winner, 2024 Nonfiction Book Awards Where would we be without the knee? This down-to-earth joint connecting the thigh and the lower leg doesn't receive the attention it deserves. Yet, as The Curious Human Knee reveals, it is crucial to...
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See moreDistilling a vast amount of research in a style that is engaging, conversational, and even personal and witty, this book opens readers’ eyes to the complexity and significance of the humble knee.
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Description
Winner, 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
Bronze Winner, 2024 Nonfiction Book Awards
Where would we be without the knee? This down-to-earth joint connecting the thigh and the lower leg doesn't receive the attention it deserves. Yet, as The Curious Human Knee reveals, it is crucial to countless facets of science, medicine, culture, and history—and even what makes us human.
The science writer Han Yu provides an informative, surprising, and entertaining exploration of the human knee across time and place. She begins with our earliest ancestors, emphasizing that walking upright separates us from the apes and bipedal knees appeared long before big brains and sophisticated tools.
Yu considers the intricate anatomy of the knee, its evolutionary history, and the complexity of treating knee pain, including her own. She examines why women's knees might be more prone to damage than men's and addresses the roles of race and class in ailments such as osteoarthritis. This book gets knee-deep into an astonishing range of topics—fashion from flappers to miniskirts and ripped jeans, cultural practices spanning Japanese knee walking and Thai boxing, and more.
Yu reflects on the symbolic power of kneeling from the imperial court in China to the football field in the United States and shows why the knee figures into so many social and political phenomena.
Distilling a vast amount of research in a style that is engaging, conversational, and even personal and witty, this book opens readers' eyes to the complexity and significance of the humble knee.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780231219136
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 15 April 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Illustration: 25 figures
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 156.0mm
Height: 235.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 296
Collections
About the Author
Han Yu is a professor in the Department of English at Kansas State University, where she teaches scientific and technical communication. Her books include Mind Thief: The Story of Alzheimer’s (Columbia, 2021).
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The Curious Human Knee
Where would we be without the knee? This down-to-earth joint connecting the thigh and the lower leg doesn't receive the attention it deserves. Yet, as The Curious Human Knee reveals, it is crucial to countless facets of science, medicine, culture, and history—and even what makes us human. Science writer Han Yu provides an informative, surprising, and entertaining exploration of the...Hardback$17699Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks
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