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A mirthful, informative peek behind the curtain of military science. (The Washington Post) Grunt examines the body pushed to its limits. Here the best-selling author of Packing for Mars explores the science of keeping human beings intact, sane, warm, fed, uninfected and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war.

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People tend to think of military science in terms of guns, bombs and high-tech gear. The far more interesting challenge of combat is not how to kill people but how to keep them alive (and put them back together). From a former wedding gown designer who now makes bomb suits, to heat stroke experimenters studying the science of sweat, Mary Roach gains insights into the fascinating figures of military science, including the sleep deprived crew of a nuclear submarine and the scientists using crash-test dummies for army tanks. The people I meet are the militarys unsung heroes, Roach says, So Im singing em.

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Mary Roachs writing has appeared in Salon, Wired, Outside, GQ, Discover, Vogue and The New York Times Magazine.

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