“The human body is wondrous not because it is perfect,
but because it has survived!”

The most astonishing perspective for understanding the human body:
ultimate survival strategies validated by billions of years of evolution.

Human beings are truly fragile. We tire easily under sweltering heat or bitter cold. Hunger drains our strength, yet eating foods that spike blood sugar can quickly make us drowsy. Unexpected accidents commonly cause sprained ligaments and broken bones, and even a single invisible virus can threaten our lives.

Yet we survive each and every day!
Professor Park Chi‑wook, a knowledge navigator who was the first at Purdue University to win the “Lecture of the Year Award” twice, introduces the body’s remarkable survival strategies that keep us alive to this day in *The Human Survival Institute*. Through fascinating anecdotes, this book explains how biological molecules inside our bodies cooperate with extraordinary precision so we can eat well, move, and live our lives.

Just as fire engines rush out at the alarm of a fire, in life‑threatening moments such as facing a predator, our bodies secrete adrenaline to fully prepare us for flight — no emergency call needed! When we twist an ankle or suffer a wound, immune cells rush to the scene first to repair damaged tissue. Much like noise and dust accompany a construction site, swelling and fever from inflammation are costs our bodies pay for recovery. Compensation circuits constantly drive us to eat, move, and carry on living. Trouble arises whether these systems grow too powerful or break down entirely. The body’s way of calibrating itself to maintain proper balance is almost an art form.

Even when we appear to be doing nothing, countless molecules inside us work non‑stop for survival. An ordinary day where nothing notable happens is, in truth, a day when our bodies have labored at their hardest. The journey of learning about molecules, each performing extraordinary functions in their respective roles, is no less thrilling than any great adventure. As you follow the quiet, ongoing drama of survival inside your body alongside *The Human Survival Institute*, you will come to deeply appreciate your body, which faithfully carries out its duties day after day without a word. You will also come to feel that the very fact of being alive is nothing short of miraculous.

Park Chi‑wook is a professor of biochemistry and pharmacology at Purdue University in the United States, and a knowledge navigator who interacts with numerous followers on X.

Whether in the lecture hall or on his X feed, he pursues the same goal: to unpack complicated, intimidating scientific knowledge through everyday analogies and fascinating stories. Beyond merely imparting knowledge, his insights encourage people to view human existence and ordinary daily life from fresh perspectives. For this reason, he is the only faculty member among more than 100 professors at Purdue University’s College of Pharmacy to have won the “Lecture of the Year Award” in two separate categories.

This book also unfolds the marvelous survival stories hidden behind the structures and functions of the human body that we often take for granted.

He majored in chemistry for his undergraduate and graduate studies at Seoul National University, earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin‑Madison, and later worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the author of *When Life Feels Hard, It Is Wise to Start Studying*.

Blurb / Recommendation Essay
Prologue: A Journey in Search of Wonder

Part 1 – In Celebration of Being Alive Right Now
Chapter 1. The Sympathetic Nervous System and Adrenaline: When You Encounter a Predator
Chapter 2. Water and Salt: Life‑Giving Fluid and Essential Electrolytes
Chapter 3. Lipoproteins: The Delivery System Carrying Fats and Cholesterol
Chapter 4. Thyroid Hormones and Iodine: The Accelerator Pedal of Metabolism
Chapter 5. Cortisol and Inflammation: The Emergency‑Mode Operating System

Part 2 – What Makes Us Human
Chapter 6. The Genome: Humanity’s Blueprint Written in the Language of God
Chapter 7. Lactose Intolerance versus Lactose Tolerance: Default Settings and Exceptions
Chapter 8. Color Vision: The Blue Sky I See and the Blue Sky You See
Chapter 9. Reward Circuits and Dopamine: “Well Done” — Learning and Motivation
Chapter 10. Sex: How Sex Explains Human Beings

Part 3 – Eating Well, Moving, and Surviving
Chapter 11. Oxygen and Exercise: You Must Keep Running Even When Breathless
Chapter 12. Carbohydrates: Frightening, Yet Impossible to Abandon
Chapter 13. Miracle Diet Pills: A Brave New World or a Dystopia?
Chapter 14. The Gastrointestinal Tract: An Autonomous Government Guarding the Body’s Internal Border

Epilogue: Humans — Not Perfect, Yet Great