Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The Astonishing New Science of the Senses

The Next Big Idea Club, August 2023 Must-Read Book

In 2016, scientists proved that humans could see light at the level of a single photon. We are living in historic times when humans may look at the very fabric of the universe in a laboratory setting. Around the world, other recent discoveries about the senses are just as astounding. It turns out we can hear amplitudes smaller than an atom, smell a trillion scents, have a set of taste buds that can discern molecules of fresh water, and can feel through the sense of touch the difference of a single molecule.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made takes readers through their own bodies, delving into the molecular and even the quantum, and tells the story of our magnificent sensorium and what it means for the next wave of human potential. From the laboratories to the ordinary homes where these breakthroughs are taking place, the book explores our current sensory Renaissance and shows readers how they, themselves, can heighten their own senses and experience the miraculous.

Maureen Seaberg’s column in Psychology Today was the first to report on the groundbreaking developments surrounding our senses. A contributor to the New York Times, National Geographic, Huffington Post, ESPN the magazine, Vogue, and many other outlets, she has appeared on CNN, NPR, Oprah Radio, MSNBC, and PBS. An avid birder and photographer, she is herself a sensory outlier as a proven tetrachromat or super color seer and synesthete. She lives in New York City.