SAN ANTONIO – The human body is both a marvel and pretty gross. And that is what inspired Mindy Thomas to co-author the book, “Wow in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body.”
“If you want to know the real reason, it’s I mean, for me, I think it’s because bodies are super gross. They leak things. They make strange sounds. They have strange things growing on them. So we cover all the warts, literally. We have a whole section here on what warts are: scabs, scrapes, scars, bruises, poop, barf, you name it. It’s all in here,” Thomas said.
Thomas wrote the book with Guy Raz -- both of whom are co-hosts of a podcast on NPR. Thomas said she wanted to write a book she wishes she had when she was a kid. She hopes it encourages kids to study science, which is something she didn’t have when she was younger.
“I think I was taught in this very academic way and I didn’t know the way it was used in the real world. And so I’m hoping that by kids realizing that they are this this this laboratory, this machine, just like anything else they use in life of their science happening within them, that’s pretty amazing,” Thomas said.
Thomas also said the inspiration came out of the pandemic when both kids and adults had a lot of questions.
“I mean, that was the thing during the pandemic, I realized is how little kids and adults knew their bodies or understood how they work. There was at the beginning there was all this talk about wearing a mask. But why? What is the mask do for you? How do we get sick? How do these germs invade our body? And so we cover all of that in here,” Thomas said.
Although the book is targeted toward children, Thomas said there is plenty for adults to learn as well.
You can buy a copy of “Wow in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body” here.