Touch
We live in a world where everyday touch is becoming less and less common, and I was curious to the importance of touch, and the impacts on us when we are starved of it. For this, I turned to David J. Linden’s book Touch. From reading the blurb, I was expecting a book about touch and why it was important for us as humans, but also the nuances of the subject that makes it such an important sense. I was not prepared for the depth and passion that I found while reading this book, there is no doubt that David J. Linden is passionate about the subject.
Touch looks at all aspects of the subject, from the importance of touch to phantom limb pain to whether our genitals can read Braille, and everything else you can imagine when it comes to touch. David J. Linden wields humour and science in a beautiful balance, keeping the reader engaged with what at times can be a lot of technical information.
Whilst reading Touch, there is no doubt about the author's passion for the subject, and this is the aspect of the book which I struggled with most. The author knows the subject well, and clearly loves learning and understand all they can, perhaps to the point where there is too much detail shared on the subject. I read this book to better understand the importance and mechanisms of touch, but I feel that this book in many ways could act as a textbook. The aspects of the book that I was looking for could have been summarised in to a chapter, two at most, but I had to read through so much technical information to get there. For example, I loved learning how incredibly accurate our sense of touch can be, but I don't feel I needed to know on a cellular level the detail that I now know.
Although I was not looking for the extreme detail and depth that I got, I appreciate how well backed up by the science all aspects of this book are. It is not just somebody's opinion but written by somebody who makes a point of backing everything up with fact, and understanding. If you are looking for a scientific in depth understanding of touch I would definitely recommend this book, if you are looking to read about the importance of touch and how amazing the sense can be, perhaps look for a summary of Touch to get the important bits.