When are we the most mentally alert? What makes us feel hungry? A skilled and personable science journalist, Ackerman has hit her stride in her third book, a virtual full-body scan conducted over the course of 24 hours. With informational exactitude and conversational casualness, Ackerman summarizes and contemplates the latest findings regarding body processes and life habits. Beginning with our grogginess upon awaking and moving through a typically demanding day and night of too little sleep, Ackerman explains the mechanics and significance of the body's inner clock, why touch is essential to our well-being, and how those billions of microbes we host, weighing an estimated two pounds, help us digest food. Stress is Ackerman's most compelling subject: what it is exactly, what havoc it wreaks, and how to control it. As she touts the benefits of exercise, music, companionship, and laughter, which she describes as stress therapy rooted in ancient neural threads of joy, one can't help but note that scientific breakthroughs are proving the veracity of age-old adages about how to live right.