The book has been reviewed by a number of journals. Reviewer comments are given below:
- SM Marson, University of North Carolina, Department of Social Work, in Public Health Nutrition (Cambridge University Press), 2009, 12, 1299-1300.
"Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling is an outstanding and revelatory book."
"It is quite extraordinary to discover a book with such a wide range of potential professional readerships."
"The writing style and content is written for those with specialties in both the natural and social sciences. This has been a Herculean task, and Thomas Samaras has succeeded."
"Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling is an important multi-disciplinary work that goes beyond public health and nutrition professionals. I recommend this volume for every academic library."
"Professional policy makers should have access to and read this volume. Thomas Samaras's work should inspire legislators. In addition, college educated citizens who have a general interest in the earth ecology will want to read it. For them, most public libraries should acquire it."
- D. Labadarios, Professor, SAJCN, Editor's Note: S Afr J Clin. Nutr, 2009, 22 (4), 167.
“….Samaras' acclaimed book, provides new insights on human body size, challenges current recommendations for growth and height, argues on the basis of some credible evidence that Western diseases, the primary cause of later-life mortality, correlate with changes in nutrition, lifestyle and increasing body size….”
- JCK Wells, University College London, Institute of Child Health, in Economics and Human Biology, 2008, 6: 489-491:
"This book is packed with ideas, and I challenge any reader working within the field of human growth to read even one chapter without achieving new insights into their area of expertise."
"...I thoroughly enjoyed reading the chapters, and was rewarded with a range of novel points, new perspectives and the kind of facts that one continues mulling over for some time afterwards."
"I strongly recommend the book to academics across a wide range of disciplines and suspect that many will find themselves challenging their long-held views about the association between growth and health."
- D. Pyne, Dept of Physiology, Australian Institute of Sport. BMJ Group Blogs: British Journal of Sports Medicine, 8 Oct, 2008
"Is the substantial increase in human height and weight over the last century a positive development for society and individuals within society in terms of physical performance, health and longevity? If this question generates a personal interest then this book on human body size is worth finding."
"There are also useful insights into the obesity epidemic that now challenges practitioners and policymakers around the world."
"This public health issue has seemingly arisen quickly over the last decade or two and the underlying experimental and epidemiological work discussed in the book is pertinent and well-received."
- Robert Arking, Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, in The Gerontologist, 2008, 48: 549-553:
"He [Samaras] has brought together much disparate data into an interesting and useful whole." p. 552
"This book marshals and examines the available data to reach some extraordinary conclusions." p. 552
"He [Samaras] carefully sorts out and analyzes the often conflicting data relating BMI to disease and/or longevity, pointing out a bevy of confounding variables, and drawing considered opinions on what they all mean." p. 552
- DE Sandberg, Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School in The Quarterly Review of Biology, June 2008, p 213:
" Would parents of short, but otherwise healthy, children be as inclined to risk the potential long-term health risks of long-term treatment with pharmacological doses of rhGH if they were apprised of the perspective outlined in this book?"
- Community Health Care Library, May 4, 2007:
"...the ideas and research in this book [are] quite fascinating."
- Leonid Gavrilov, Center on Aging, University of Chicago, 2008
"This book provides the most comprehensive coverage available of the human body and its relation to a variety of extrinsic and intrinsic factors."
- Longevity Science Blog, 2007
"This unique book takes a systems approach to human size and its relation to various aspects of life, including changes in biochemical factors, chronic disease risk, nutrition and longevity."
- Mark Houston, Hong Kong medical researcher, May 11, 2008
" Your book was fantastic, absolutely unique."
- The Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine, 2007
"....a wonderful book."
