Dr. Jolie Bookspan has been listening to her students for years, patiently finding the best way to get across difficult concepts of Human Physiology. Many of her students hated science, and with good reason. It can be so dry, especially when poorly taught. She had to develop new tricks to impart her knowledge, but more importantly she had to learn new ways of germinating interest in the subject so that her ideas would bear fruit. With this book, she has virtually redefined the art of teaching by exploiting humor as a form of "synaptic glue" seldom used in a serious scientific text. Her wit is fun and richly layered. That is what makes this book so compelling. She makes science delicious.

As you can see by now, I enjoyed reading this book immensely. It turns out to be one of the most valuable books in my collection for a number of reasons. First, as the manager of an interactive Diving Medicine web site for the University of Washington, I often find myself trying to teach Diving Physiology on-line to divers with a variety of backgrounds from the absolute neophyte to the scientist/colleague. Take for instance the subject of Immersion. After reading the chapter titled "Effects of Immersion," it struck me that those effects are not intuitive. It makes sense after you read it, but information on hydrostatic gradients and centralization of blood volume (Fat-Face-Chicken-Legs-Effect) was not only interesting but also invaluable to me as an educator. This book is not a "Read Once & Shelve Forever" type, but falls squarely into the "Read Often & Frequently Reference" category. In its place of honor beside my computer, my signed copy has started to look more like a well-used phone book than a physiology text.

I reviewed a sample of the most common "Frequently Asked Questions" taken on-line at my web site during the last two years of operation. It is uncanny how relevant this book is. Asthma, barotrauma, compartment off-gassing, decompression theory; it is all here and handled with the skill that comes from years of teaching. I was pleasantly surprised that many popular clinical topics were also covered in much more detail than I have come to expect. "Diving Headaches" (a common topic) was given three pages and is a masterpiece of completeness, as is "Oxygen Toxicity." With few exceptions, there is just about everything a diver needs to know here in fascinating detail.

My only disappointment was to find that the physiology of childhood and adolescence was missing. It would have been particularly relevant to have included it here in light of all the economic pressures to get divers in the water at an ever younger age. I strongly council parents to restrain themselves from pushing their children into the water with SCUBA gear for a few years into adolescence. The criticisms are few, the accolades many.

Dr Jolie Bookspan has written more that just a "handy compendium" (her words). This is an encyclopedia of the most valuable information a diver might want to know. A very entertaining way to learn and teach science. Yes, I do love this book!