The Spark in the Machine

How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine

By: Daniel Keown

Narrated by: Gavin Osborn

Ground-breaking book showing how the theories of western and Chinese medicine support each other. Full of good stories and surprising details.

Why can salamanders grow new legs, and young children grow new finger tips, but adult humans can't regenerate? What is the electricity that flows through the human body? Is it the same thing that the Chinese call Qi? If so, what does Chinese medicine know, that western medicine ignores?

Dan Keown's highly accessible, witty, and original book shows how western medicine validates the theories of Chinese medicine, and how Chinese medicine explains the mysteries of the body that western medicine largely ignores. He explains the generative force of embryology, how the hearts of two people in love (or in scientific terms `quantum entanglement') truly beat as one, how a cheating heart is also an ill heart (which is why men are twice as likely to die of a sudden heart attack with their mistress than with their wife), how neural crest cells determine our lifespan, and why Proust's madeleines evoked the memories they did.

The book shows how the theories of western and Chinese medicine support each other, and how the integrated theory enlarges our understanding of how bodies work on every level. Full of good stories and surprising details, Dan Keown's book is essential reading for anyone who has ever wanted to know how the body really works.©2014 Daniel Keown

Excellent! Thoroughly enjoyed

Really LOVED this book. Very interesting and told with a wonderful sense of humor! Highly recommend!

interesting and fun ...

for a lay text. The embryological basis for of the book is fascinating, and Osborne reads it in an entertaining fashion

must read for anyone curious about acupuncture

I would love a sequel with more current reasearch someday. but this is a must for anyone wanting to learn about TCM and Acupuncture from a reductionist or out to disprove it source. Fantastic. This should be a required reading for western med students in integrative medicine.

My favorite book

I love this book. It is incredibly informative, useful and funny. So glad to finally have it on Audible as well!

A must listen text for students of acupuncture

Dr Keown brilliantly bridges the ancient healing practice of acupuncture with modern Western-based medical understanding. It's written succinctly and expertly. The performance is perfect and makes listening enjoyable.