The complete book on pee and poo

William Atkins
Saturday, 08 November 2008 20:31

Science - Biology

The Big Necessity is a new book written by British author Rose George that delves into the “now-mentionable” world of human waste. The author states that the toilet adds twenty years to the life of an average human but that about one in three persons in the world do not have access to one.


Bodily waste is not something that is usually discussed in polite circles, around the water cooler at work, or even in the darkened corners of bars and taverns.

However, we all excrete waste on a daily basis. It’s about as natural a process at eating, which obviously is what causes excretion in the first place.

U.S. author Rose George discusses this delicate (and slightly soiled) subject in her new book “The Big Necessity.” It is a story about how we go to the bathroom.

In the book review appearing in the New Scientist article “Answering nature’s call” senior environment correspondent Fred Pearce states that the book “… is the cultural, bacteriological and psychological landscape of poo and pee.” [New Scientist, November 1-7, 2008, page 46]

The review by New Scientist adds some bits of wisdom that appear in the book:

“The average dump is 250 grams.”

“One person’s feces and urine can fertilize 270 square meters of farmland.”

“The average American wipes him or herself with a staggering 57 sheets of toilet paper a day….”

“A gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses and 100 worm eggs.”

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