How long does it take to read If Our Bodies Could Talk?
a guide to operating and maintaining a human body
James Hamblin
If Our Bodies Could Talk by James Hamblin takes about 7 hours 5 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 7 hours 5 minutes
A weekend read
First published 2016. 386 pages, about 106,150 words.
15 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 11 hours 48 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 7 hours 5 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 25 minutes |
The page count is the median across 5 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
"If you want to understand the strange workings of the human body, and the future of medicine, you must read this illuminating, engaging book." --Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Gene In 2014, James Hamblin launched a series of videos for The Atlantic called "If Our Bodies Could Talk." With it, the doctor-turned-journalist established himself as a seriously entertaining authority in the field of health. Now, in illuminating and genuinely funny prose, Hamblin explores the human stories behind health questionsthat never seem to go away--and which tend to be mischaracterized and oversimplified by marketing and news media. He covers topics such as sleep, aging, diet, and much more: Can I "boost" my immune system? Does caffeine make me live longer? Do we still not know if cell phones cause cancer? How much sleep do I actually need? Is there any harm in taking a multivitamin? Is life long enough? In considering these questions, Hamblin draws from his own medical training as well from hundreds of interviews with distinguished scientists and medical practitioners. He translates the (traditionally boring) textbook of human anatomy and physiology into accessible, engaging, socially contextualized, up-to-the-moment answers. They offer clarity, examine the limits of our certainty, and ultimately help readers worry less about things that don't really matter. If Our Bodies Could Talk is a comprehensive, illustrated guide that entertains and educates in equal doses.
Subjects: Health, Popular works, Miscellanea
