Grunt

Mary Roach writes non-fiction books about science that are also humorous.  Her trick is to state the obvious. Stating the obvious can be funny and that is what she does in Grunt.  I have also read Bonk (about sex), Stiff (about death) and Gulp (about digestion). This book is about the injuries of war.  I learned so much from her.  All along the book I get more and more really incredible scientific information while being entertained; it's like taking vitamins that taste like chocolate. She had chapters on uniforms, vehicles, hearing loss, injuries from bombs, war medics, how the body handles heat, diarrhea, maggots, shark repellant, and sleep deprivation.  She had a chapter on stink bombs.  Did you know research was being done on using smells to disperse people at the same time research was being done on the atom bomb?  Why don't we try stink bombs to calmly disperse unruly crowds? She brings up ideas I have never thought of before.  Some of the discussion is about the Army and some about Marines but I'd say most of it is about the Navy.  I liked it so much I'd like to buy a copy for the two people in my family who are in the armed forces.