The Quantified Self - by Gary Wolf (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Science has given us tools and methods that allow us to observe things that were once imperceptible--and this book shows what we can learn when we use them to look at ourselves.

Written by science journalist Gary Wolf, co-founder of the Quantified Self movement, this book teaches readers how to use proven scientific methods to answer their own health questions. At a time when trust in expertise is fractured and people are divided not just politically but over how to know what's true, The Quantified Self makes the case that science belongs to everyone--and proves it by putting the method in the reader's hands.

Wolf teaches ten reasoning patterns adapted from the history of scientific practice and illustrates them with dozens of personal narratives. Across chapters on pain, mood, cognition, sleep, digestion, heart health, and hormones, readers learn a practical method for answering the health questions that matter most to them.

Review Quotes

"Elegant, practical, and deeply hopeful, Gary Wolf's book offers simple, powerful tools for those whose suffering lies beyond the reach of standard medical protocols. A moving invitation for ordinary people to become scientists of their own experience. I'll be giving it to my patients." --Dawn Lemanne, MD, MPH, founder of Oregon Integrative Oncology and host of the podcast Docs Talk Shop

"Most self-tracking books promise miracles. This one promises something more useful: a method. These experts have distilled nearly two decades of the Quantified Self community into a working guide for asking better questions about your own body and getting answers. The quietly radical claim here -- that careful observation, not better sensors, is what turns data into understanding -- will be useful to everyone trying to learn more about their health."--Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, founder of the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation and author of The Expert Guide to Beating Heart Disease

"This book a landmark achievement that empowers not only individual citizens but the whole science community."--Gaston Remmers, PhD, board member, European Citizen Science Association, and director of the Self-Research Network Netherlands

"This book is a gift to anyone who has ever wanted to take their life seriously as a site of learning. It is a profoundly practical, clear, kind, hard-earned manual for self-research, and a foundational starting point for current and future health scientists." --Eric Hekler, PhD, Professor of Public Health and Design, UC San Diego

"This book is a perfect roadmap to how to actually do personal science... [It outlines] what one needs to do to [answer] questions that matter... whether about a chronic degenerative disease or some other challenge."--Eli Pollard, renowned patient advocate and Executive Director, World Parkinson Coalition

"You are in charge of your own well-being. That could sound like a threat, but it's really a promise. What is important to you? What mystery are you trying to solve? What's a hunch you want to test? Quantified Self: Learning to Observe will give you the tools, language, and strategies you need to reason your way to a better life."--Susannah Fox, author of Rebel Health: A Field Guide to the Patient-led Revolution in Medical Care and former CTO of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

About the Author

Gary Wolf writes about science and technology. A former executive editor of Wired Digital and contributing editor at Wired magazine, he cofounded the Quantified Self movement in 2008. He currently works with the Personal Science Research Group to build tools, develop methods, and publish case studies that support small scale empirical science. He lives in Berkeley, California.