Experimental Man: What One Man's Body Reveals about His Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World Book

David Ewing Duncan (caveat, I know him personally), is an excellent science journalist who has written myriad pieces of short- and long-form journalism for The Atlantic, The New York Times and elsewhere. However his skills begin to fade when applied to writing entire books. In some ways, he is a victim of his own prescience, exploring this particular theme (someone who experiments with, and quantifies, every aspect of his natural existence) 3-5 years before the birth of the "Quantified Self" movement, personal genome sequencing, and the general culture of over-sharing that now pervades our texting, friending generation. Nonetheless there is some great science here, along with clear expositions on genetics, population biology and statistics. Duncan wisely leans toward the personal, discussing his family's ancestry and its implications for his health and well-being. Overall, a fascinating insight into the coming science of quantified health, wellness and real-time social tracking that is rapidly turning each of us into self-reporting experiments.