Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgements -- Introduction : scope of the book; types of human difference and their causes -- Plates -- Races and inter-mixing, nationalities, cultures, castes, classes and religions -- Height, weight, shape and obesity -- Differences between males and females; reproduction and its production of genetic diversity -- Personal choice, including cosmetic and preventative surgery, clothing and make-up -- A rich but frustrating diversity of languages -- Names and identity -- Albinos, colour-blindness and height: how human characteristics are inherited -- The brain, nerves, intelligence, mind, personality, mental problems, learning, memory, creativity, happiness -- Sex, attraction, reproduction, twins, incest -- Chapter 11.diseases, disorders, immunity, cancer -- Eating, drinking, diet, digestion, liver,cystic fibrosis, diabetes, allergies, food intolerances, anorexia -- Skin, skin colour and disorders -- The skeleton, muscles; osteoporosis, me, motor neurone disease, muscular dystrophy -- Head, face, eyes, ears, sight, hearing, smell, taste -- Chapter 16.the heart; heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure -- Chapter 17.blood, blood groups; anaemia, haemophilia, leukaemia and other blood disorders -- Arms, legs, giants, dwarfs, arthritis, left-handedness -- Kidneys, urine, bladder, cystitis, police alcohol tests -- Lungs, breathing, asthma -- Chapter 21.development from the fertilised egg; sexual and later development -- Chapter 22.longevity, ageing, birth and deathrates, immigration, population structure -- Chapter 23.abnormalities of sex chromosomes and autosomes, down syndrome, barr bodies -- Chapter 24.opinions on the national characteristics of the chinese, japanese and english.

Human diversity, with its myriad of different conditions involving biology, psychology, and social structures, remains one of the biggest challenges — and opportunities — facing the species. With many government and private firms now having diversity or equality officers, programmes or committees, it is clear that human diversity is a cornerstone of policy-making at the very highest echelons. All this points to a need for proper scientific and medical information on this topic — not soft'politically correct'sociology.This book provides the hard facts on human similarities and differences, their causes and effects on people. It covers the whole range from normal to extreme human types, and presents — for the first time — much of the author's 25 years of original research on the subject. It can also act as a family medical guide to aspects of human function, structure and disease. It covers many human topics in a humane and understandable fashion, providing much material for information and discussion. It can be used as a handbook or textbook on human diversity, but is mainly popular science for the general public. A special feature of this book is the 140 colour photos that illustrate the diversity of human life, nearly all taken by the author himself.Given the vast nature of the subject, the book seamlessly integrates relevant data from multiple disciplines including medicine, biology, anthropology, genetics, psychology, evolution, languages, sociology, history and geography. Even controversial subjects such as race, class and culture are tackled head-on with no-nonsense scientific rigour.