Surviving the Extremes: A Doctor's Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance - Tapa dura

A physician, NASA consultant, and expert on the extreme conditions that confront the human body journeys into six inhospitable environments--underwater, water surface, jungle, desert, high altitude, and outer space--to examine the reaction of the body to heat, cold, pressure, starvation, and exhaustion and its own innate survival strategies.

"Ken Kamler is a natural writer, as well as an adventurer and a prober into how much human beings can stand. In Surviving the Extremes, he brings personal experience and scientific knowledge together beautifully, giving us narratives which are powerful, moving, and very real."
--Oliver Sacks

"High-powered drama that could save your life. Kamler has written a must-read for anyone who dares the odds."
--Clive Cussler

"For those who have peered, however briefly, over the edge of mortality, and also for those who have thus far been spared that journey, Surviving the Extremes entertains and enlightens, while ultimately illuminating the mysteries of human survival."
--Bernie Chowdhury, author of The Last Dive; Publisher and Editor, Immersed: The International Diving Magazine

"As gripping as any Michael Crichton page-turner. But Kamler's powerful accounts also glow with the deep warmth and compassion of a true healer. His medical wisdom goes far beyond medical kits, surgical techniques, or prescriptions. His stories of survival help us understand what the struggle for life truly means."
--Michael Hawley, Director of Special Projects, MIT

"There is no one I would rather have at my side when venturing into extreme environments than Dr. Ken Kamler. But if I can't have him personally, I would certainly want to have a copy of this book."
--Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and President Emerita, The Explorers Club