The Changing Body.

• Position: Bureau Books

The Changing Body--Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World since 1700, by Roderick Floud, Robert W. Fogel, Bernard Harris, and Sok Chul Hong, is available from Cambridge University Press. Te paperback price is $32.99 and the hardcover price is $90.00.

Humans have become much taller and heavier, and are experiencing healthier and longer lives than ever before in human history. However, only recently have historians, economists, human biologists, and demographers linked the changing size, shape, and capability of the human body to economic and demographic change. This groundbreaking volume presents an introduction to the field of anthropometric history, surveying the causes and consequences of changes in health and mortality, diet, and the disease environment in Europe and the United States since 1700. It examines how we define and measure health and nutrition, as well as such key issues as whether increased longevity contributes to greater productivity or rather imposes burdens on society through higher costs for health care and...