"Replaceable You" | Reviewed by William Winkler

Noted astronomer Tycho Brahe became the first recorded recipient of a prosthetic nose after his natal proboscis was removed in a 1566 duel of honor.

The first chapter of Mary Roach’s intriguing (and funny) “Replaceable You” recounts the history of facial reconstruction surgery from Brahe’s 16^th century interchangeable snouts to the current widespread use of advancement flaps to rebuild facial features damaged by injury or disease.

Roach is quick to point out that human attempts to recreate human body parts or functions, ingenious though they might be, still pale in comparison to the products of millennia of evolution. And the result of those attempts, such as joint replacements, invariably need continued improvements to match their natural counterparts.

The first human heart was transplanted in 1967. Today transplantation of hearts, lungs, and other organs is commonplace, but limited by the body’s ability to recognize and reject tissue other than its own, a necessity for survival in a milieu laden with vast arrays of microscopic invaders. Roach details the attempts to develop implantable organs from other than human tissue and the barriers that such research encounters.

The author spends several chapters discussing the burgeoning field of cosmetic surgery. She spends time with a Mexican “resculptor” who specializes in moving body fat from undesired to more pulchritudinous locations. She submits to allowing a hair transplant specialist to remove a few of her own follicles so she can observe the process of their regeneration and reproduction in a laboratory. And she observes and describes the process of removal of corneas, skin, and ligamentous tissue from a cadaver donor whose donations will improve the lives of up to 75 recipients.

Roach spends a great deal of time with leaders in the areas she writes about. Many of their conversations are highly technical. The author does a commendable job of translating the technical concepts into language understandable by most lay readers.

Roach acknowledges that her subject is both broad and deep. She states,” What I offer is...a primer, a reality check for those who, like me, find themselves bobbing along in the swift current of discoveries that feel at once wondrous, improbable, and surreal.”

The author keeps her narrative light with multiple insertions of humor and self-deprecation. The result is a book that is both highly informative and entertaining.

Buy the book.