Short Synopsis
From health and wellness writer Carol Svec, Balance is a lively, 360-degree exploration of our body's supersense.

Full Synopsis
Balance is a lively, 360-degree exploration of our body's supersense. Health and wellness writer Carol Svec examines every facet of balance in a way that is highly entertaining, broadly accessible, and rigorously researched. Listeners follow her through various facilities as she talks with scientists doing state-of-the-art research. She grilled an egg in a virtual kitchen, had her senses fooled in a Tumbling Room by a mannequin named Hans, survived "the Vominator" without losing her lunch, and experienced drunken dizziness inside a police muster room. Chapters include fascinating case studies of people whose lives are affected by balance dysfunction, the latest research initiatives, the coolest gadgets used by researchers, and first-person accounts of what it's like to be a scientific guinea pig for balance. In a clear, friendly style, Svec communicates what she has learned about balance from some of the top scientists in the world, including how balance research is being applied to help those who are ill, elderly, disabled, or simply prone to queasiness, and what ingenious, potentially life-changing advances may be coming down the road.

"Narrator Wendy Tremont King projects a friendly attitude, inviting listeners to engage even in the technical aspects of the book." ---Library Journal Audio Review

"Wendy Tremont King give a serviceable narration of Svec's well-researched and well-written look at the human mechanisms that allow us to stand upright and perceive our place in this three-dimensional universe." ---AudioFile

"Both awe-inspiring and funny, this is science writing at its best.” ---Joy Bauer, MS, RDN, bestselling author of From Junk Food to Joy Food

"Svec takes us on a fascinating romp through the science of balance and the mind-body connection . . . a well-balanced blend of science, stories, surprises and her own dizzying adventures as a guinea pig.” ---Jena Pincott, author of Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?: The Surprising Science of Pregnancy

"Carol Svec's exploration of balance is unexpected, engaging, and ultimately enlightening.” ---Samantha Dunn, author of Not By Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life

“With crisp, lucid, and witty prose, Svec leads us on a kind of Odyssean journey into the secret symphony performed every second of every day between our eyes, ears, brains, nerves, joints, and even blood." ---James Nestor, author of DEEP: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us about Ourselves