What it's like to be hit by lightning or to lose your sense of smell? Have you heard about the woman saved by bee stings - or the window cleaner who fell 400ft and lived? Written for the Wellcome charity, these 16 stories explore the mysteries of the human body. Learn about everything from diets to allergies to baldness.

¿17 gripping stories about the human body ¿Popular science from the Wellcome health charity Ever wondered what it's like to be struck by lightning, what happens when lose your sense of smell, or if we will ever cure baldness? Heard about the woman who was saved by bees -or the window cleaner who fell 472ft from a skyscraper and lived? It's time for some Bodyology. Originally written for Wellcome, the global health charity, Bodyology's stories explore the mysteries of the human body. They follow the scientists investigating our limbs, organs and senses: how our eyes and ears work, how we respond to allergies, and how some people survive disaster. Each chapter is packed with insight. Tuck into some thrilling science that reveals more about you and your family and friends. StoriesWhat's it like to be struck by lightning? - Charlotte Huff Why do we colour hair? - Rebecca Guenard The man with the golden blood - Penny Bailey Why dieters can't rely on calories - Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley 3D printers can now make body parts - Ian Birrell How to fall to your death and live to tell the tale - Neil Steinberg The quest to explain miscarriages - Holly Cave Can the power of thought slow ageing? - Jo Marchant Seeking a 'cure' for male baldness - Rhodri Marsden How a bee sting saved a woman's life - Christie Wilcox The global trend for 'kangaroo' babies - Lena Corner What it means to lose your sense of smell - Emma Young The doctor aiming to end eye pain - Bryn Nelson Are allergies a defence against noxious chemicals? - Carl Zimmer Why business is going slow on the male pill - Andy Extance How virtual reality headsets aid remote surgery - Jo Marchant Shhh! What exactly is the menopause? - Rose George All these stories were commissioned by Mosaic Science, a project founded by the health charity Wellcome. Using a Creative Commons licence, Mosaic Science has published dozens of stories exploring the science people care about. Canbury Press has curated the best stories into this book and a companion volume, Brainology.

'It's a good sign when you pick up a book intending to read one chapter and end up reading three. It's very moreish. This is because it's made up of short, self-contained articles, originally published on a website. Often an edited collection of articles by different authors suggests a boring read, but here the articles are good pieces of journalism with plenty to interest the reader.

The topics are all vaguely human body related, but thankfully not all medical (not my favourite subject) - so, for example, as well as stories of a person cured of Lyme disease by bee stings or a piece on miscarriages we get topics like the effects on the body of being struck by lightning or falling from a high place. Even some more explicitly health-related matters, such as the impact of losing your sense of smell, were engaging enough to get me past my medical squeamishness.'