Jo Marchant is a science journalist and author based in London. Her book Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body (2016), a New York Times bestseller, was Finalist for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize and Longlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize. Here is a short biography of the author, including details about her book(s) as well as ratings and reviews about it.
Jo Marchant is based in London. She has a PhD in genetics and medical microbiology from St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College in London, and an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London.
She began by training as a scientist. Then she worked as an editor at New Scientist and at Nature. She has written on topics from the future of genetic engineering to underwater archaeology and has lectured around the world, including at the Royal Institution in London, the Hay Festival, the Edinburgh Science Festival, the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Dutch-Flemish Institute in Cairo.
Her articles have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian and Smithsonian magazine.
She signed three books: Decoding the Heavens, Shadow King, and Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body.
She has been shortlisted a second time for the Royal Society science books prize for Decoding the Heavens besides being shortlisted a first time for the same prize for Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body.
Cure is a health and psychology book published in 2016.
Synopsis:
A rigorous, skeptical, deeply reported look at the new science behind the mind’s surprising ability to heal the body
Have you ever felt a surge of adrenaline after narrowly avoiding an accident? Salivated at the sight (or thought) of a sour lemon? Felt turned on just from hearing your partner’s voice? If so, then you’ve experienced how dramatically the workings of your mind can affect your body.
Yet while we accept that stress or anxiety can damage our health, the idea of “healing thoughts” was long ago hijacked by New Age gurus and spiritual healers. Recently, however, serious scientists from a range of fields have been uncovering evidence that our thoughts, emotions and beliefs can ease pain, heal wounds, fend off infection and heart disease and even slow the progression of AIDS and some cancers.
In Cure, award-winning science writer Jo Marchant travels the world to meet the physicians, patients and researchers on the cutting edge of this new world of medicine. We learn how meditation protects against depression and dementia, how social connections increase life expectancy and how patients who feel cared for recover from surgery faster. We meet Iraq war veterans who are using a virtual arctic world to treat their burns and children whose ADHD is kept under control with half the normal dose of medication. We watch as a transplant patient uses the smell of lavender to calm his hostile immune system and an Olympic runner shaves vital seconds off his time through mind-power alone.
Drawing on the very latest research, Marchant explores the vast potential of the mind’s ability to heal, lays out its limitations and explains how we can make use of the findings in our own lives. With clarity and compassion, Cure points the way towards a system of medicine that treats us not simply as bodies but as human beings.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK
One comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Cure is a fascinating book based on research. It brings us a new and modern approach to medicine focusing on the role of mind in healthcare and the importance of attitude in healing. Jo Marchant’s insight is interesting and relevant. I felt deeply concerned by her arguments. It is a reading meant for the general non-scientific reader like you and me. I highly recommend this book!