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A review by mchester24
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
4.0
In Mary Roach's signature and familiar style, she dives into the wacky/uncomfortable/humorous/scary human sides of military and war that people don't often think about. She spends time with the experts behind the obviously important aspects like food, clothes,
and vehicles, as well as the vastly important but unsung heroes in the military charged with improvements in hearing technology, genital surgery, diarrhea prevention and treatment, odors as tools and weapons, and sleep science. If you've been a fan of any of Roach's previous books, then you'll definitely enjoy her bringing her unique combination of comedy, science (in patented scientist being interviewed by admitted very-non-scientist manner), and humanity to the military world.
A few takeaways I found particularly surprising or insightful that I took notes on:
- The thought that goes into even the most mundane in the military in staggering-- the government specifications on buttons is 22 pages long alone.
- The worlds of fashion and military clothing are closely intertwined, with designers coming from the fashion industry as the most qualified people to design clothing-- so that influences the appearance of military garb. For example, the blue camo in the navy is not because it is somehow useful to be blue near the water, it was a fashion choice due to the prevalence of blue in the industry at the time.
- It was interesting to hear the discretion that sometimes needs to be used when cadavers are donated to military science uses. One example was the discovery that there really wasn't a better replacement to crash/bomb test vehicles than cadavers, though family of those cadavers would obviously not want to picture the remains of their loved ones being smashed against the walls/ceilings of newly tested vehicles.
- A lot of what military technology deals with is significant tradeoffs. You can add more and more armor to a vehicle trying to protect those inside from blasts, but eventually it will get so heavy that it will cause what those in the military dub 'Godzilla-ing' of the ground around you.
- If there were more communication between silos in the military technology development, as well as those who actually end up using the technology, it seems a lot of issues could be avoided early. When new ear plugs are given out AFTER helmets had been given to soldiers, the result was helmets no longer fitting and soldiers either ditching the ear plugs or having their helmets constantly move and distract them.
- The sections of the book about genital injuries, surgeries, replacements, and more certainly made me wince, but they highlight an area that has an unfair stigma around it and the resulting silence surrounding the topic helps nobody. Those who suffer these injuries often need to re-learn how to have sex in order for them to feel like they can live full and happy lives, but it's not an issue that gets a lot of attention come budget setting time.
- On the genital topic, I also found it very interesting how they talk a lot about the transplant of penises but the military is hesitant/resistant to work on testicle transplants due to the moral/ethical/philosophical questions that would rise with respect to 'who's' sperm that would then be and who would be the father of children born from that sperm.
- The comparison of drill instructors to being 'emotional vaccines' made so much more sense to me than anything else I had heard about drill instructors previously. You inject a little bit of emotional strain/distress now so you can easily handle it later when the stress is real.
- There have been many efforts to use smell, specifically very nasty smells, as a tool in the military. Surprisingly, one of the prevailing issues with doing so is that there really aren't any smells that are universally considered 'bad,' and more often than not it depends on the context in which you smell things. This lead to some surprising results in the book where, when asked to rate anonymised smells, some people would rate burnt hair or decaying flesh as 'a suitable scent to wear'!
- Some of the effects of the detriments of sleep discussed with regard to sailors on deep sea submarines certainly had me reevaluating my own sleep schedule.
and vehicles, as well as the vastly important but unsung heroes in the military charged with improvements in hearing technology, genital surgery, diarrhea prevention and treatment, odors as tools and weapons, and sleep science. If you've been a fan of any of Roach's previous books, then you'll definitely enjoy her bringing her unique combination of comedy, science (in patented scientist being interviewed by admitted very-non-scientist manner), and humanity to the military world.
A few takeaways I found particularly surprising or insightful that I took notes on:
- The thought that goes into even the most mundane in the military in staggering-- the government specifications on buttons is 22 pages long alone.
- The worlds of fashion and military clothing are closely intertwined, with designers coming from the fashion industry as the most qualified people to design clothing-- so that influences the appearance of military garb. For example, the blue camo in the navy is not because it is somehow useful to be blue near the water, it was a fashion choice due to the prevalence of blue in the industry at the time.
- It was interesting to hear the discretion that sometimes needs to be used when cadavers are donated to military science uses. One example was the discovery that there really wasn't a better replacement to crash/bomb test vehicles than cadavers, though family of those cadavers would obviously not want to picture the remains of their loved ones being smashed against the walls/ceilings of newly tested vehicles.
- A lot of what military technology deals with is significant tradeoffs. You can add more and more armor to a vehicle trying to protect those inside from blasts, but eventually it will get so heavy that it will cause what those in the military dub 'Godzilla-ing' of the ground around you.
- If there were more communication between silos in the military technology development, as well as those who actually end up using the technology, it seems a lot of issues could be avoided early. When new ear plugs are given out AFTER helmets had been given to soldiers, the result was helmets no longer fitting and soldiers either ditching the ear plugs or having their helmets constantly move and distract them.
- The sections of the book about genital injuries, surgeries, replacements, and more certainly made me wince, but they highlight an area that has an unfair stigma around it and the resulting silence surrounding the topic helps nobody. Those who suffer these injuries often need to re-learn how to have sex in order for them to feel like they can live full and happy lives, but it's not an issue that gets a lot of attention come budget setting time.
- On the genital topic, I also found it very interesting how they talk a lot about the transplant of penises but the military is hesitant/resistant to work on testicle transplants due to the moral/ethical/philosophical questions that would rise with respect to 'who's' sperm that would then be and who would be the father of children born from that sperm.
- The comparison of drill instructors to being 'emotional vaccines' made so much more sense to me than anything else I had heard about drill instructors previously. You inject a little bit of emotional strain/distress now so you can easily handle it later when the stress is real.
- There have been many efforts to use smell, specifically very nasty smells, as a tool in the military. Surprisingly, one of the prevailing issues with doing so is that there really aren't any smells that are universally considered 'bad,' and more often than not it depends on the context in which you smell things. This lead to some surprising results in the book where, when asked to rate anonymised smells, some people would rate burnt hair or decaying flesh as 'a suitable scent to wear'!
- Some of the effects of the detriments of sleep discussed with regard to sailors on deep sea submarines certainly had me reevaluating my own sleep schedule.