
The Joy of Sweat
The Strange Science of Perspiration
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Narrated by:
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Sophie Amoss
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By:
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Sarah Everts
An Outside Magazine 2021 Science Book Pick
One of Smithsonian's 10 Best Science Books of 2021
A taboo-busting romp through the shame, stink, and strange science of sweating.
Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it’s also one of our most vital and least understood. In The Joy of Sweat, Sarah Everts delves into its role in the body - and in human history.
Why is sweat salty? Why do we sweat when stressed? Why do some people produce colorful sweat? And should you worry about Big Brother tracking the hundreds of molecules that leak out in your sweat - not just the stinky ones or alleged pheromones - but the ones that reveal secrets about your health and vices?
Everts’ entertaining investigation takes listeners around the world - from Moscow, where she participates in a dating event in which people sniff sweat in search of love, to New Jersey, where companies hire trained armpit sniffers to assess the efficacy of their anti-sweat products. In Finland, Everts explores the delights of the legendary smoke sauna and the purported health benefits of good sweat, while in the Netherlands she slips into the sauna theater scene, replete with costumes, special effects, and towel dancing.
Along the way, Everts traces humanity’s long quest to control sweat, culminating in the multibillion-dollar industry for deodorants and antiperspirants. And she shows that while sweating can be annoying, our sophisticated temperature control strategy is one of humanity’s most powerful biological traits.
Deeply researched and written with great zest, The Joy of Sweat is a fresh take on a gross but engrossing fact of human life.
©2021 Sarah Everts (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"An entertaining and illuminating guide to the necessity and virtues of perspiration…Everts is a crisp and lively writer." (Jennifer Szalai, New York Times)
"Everts has charm and enthusiasm, writes breezily and, along the way, effectively debunks a number of enduring myths.... [F]un, entertaining and full of interesting facts. (Simon Humphreys, The Mail on Sunday)
"A fascinating account of an involuntary bodily function that turns out to be as unique as a fingerprint." (Irina Dumitrescu, Times Literary Supplement (UK))
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Enjoyable!
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For those who like fact heavy books
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One area that weaved its way in was several references to transgender. It was odd. An example was the make up of sweat from a transgender woman. Since a transgender woman is a biological male the sweat will more accurately allign with sweat of men, not of women. That is biology, which is science. And for a book that is science based it was odd that the author was trying to manipulate the biological science of genders. It was several times in the book and seemed out of place.
The narration was good, not great, but it was a hard topic to narrate.
Overall it's a 6 or 7 out of 10. Worth the time but you may want to wait until goes on sale to purchase.
Good foundation and facts but strange in parts
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The book was an interesting diversion from my usual reading experience, covering a topic I never really thought about.
I learned about German sauna theater as well as cultural differences in sauna practices in European countries.
Quirky topic, but engaging
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Not great
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Perfect theme, story and narration
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Perfect for me.
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Listening to this informs of us many important, useful, fascinating facts about sweat.
Highly recommended.
Darn interesting
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She also makes some reductive observations on medical history such as classical views of Galen as “wrong.”
Interesting way to tackle a subject
Interesting and virtually singular review on the subject of perspiration, but lacking
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Five Stars and Two Thumbs Up!…
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