The Spark in the Machine - by Daniel Keown (Paperback)

About the Book

Challenging those who believe acupuncture to bear no relation to Western medicine, this witty, accessible and highly original book shows how Chinese medicine can explain mysteries of the body and how an integration of Chinese and Western medicine can lead to a fuller understanding of how our bodies function.

Book Synopsis

Why can salamanders grow new legs, and young children grow new finger tips, but adult humans can't regenerate? What is the electricity that flows through the human body? Is it the same thing that the Chinese call Qi? If so, what does Chinese medicine know, that western medicine ignores?

Dan Keown's highly accessible, witty, and original book shows how western medicine validates the theories of Chinese medicine, and how Chinese medicine explains the mysteries of the body that western medicine largely ignores. He explains the generative force of embryology, how the hearts of two people in love (or in scientific terms `quantum entanglement') truly beat as one, how a cheating heart is also an ill heart (which is why men are twice as likely to die of a sudden heart attack with their mistress than with their wife), how neural crest cells determine our lifespan, and why Proust's madeleines evoked the memories they did...

The book shows how the theories of western and Chinese medicine support each other, and how the integrated theory enlarges our understanding of how bodies work on every level. Full of good stories and surprising details, Dan Keown's book is essential reading for anyone who has ever wanted to know how the body really works.

Review Quotes

I started reading this book and thought "wow!" - I couldn't put it down! Daniel Keown is both a Western medical doctor and an acupuncturist. Using his engaging writing style he makes sense of how the latest scientific understanding of systems theory unites with the holism of our oldest medical tradition. Everyone from the general public to Western and Eastern medical practitioners, in fact anyone who is curious about the remarkable way the human body functions and develops, should read this book.--Angela Hicks, Joint Principal of the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine, Reading, UK, and author of The Principles of Chinese Medicine

It is surprising how little research has been done over the years to examine the relationship of acupuncture to Western medicine. Now at last we have Dr Keown's thoughtful and stimulating book to help fill this gap. Dr Keown talks from personal experience of working on both sides of this medical divide. His book is an invaluable contribution to helping practitioners of both disciplines understand how far they speak a common medical language, though they may express themselves in somewhat different terms.--Nora Franglen, Founder of the School of Five Element Acupuncture (SOFEA) and author of The Handbook of Five Element Practice, Keepers of the Soul, Patterns of Practice and The Simple Guide to Five Element Acupuncture

The eloquent and poetic language of the classics of Chinese medicine has always seemed incommensurable with modern Western scientific medicine. No longer. Dr Keown provides clear and compelling evidence that both systems are describing the same processes in the human body. Some kind of synthesis is now in prospect, and the implications are enormous.--John Hamwee, acupuncturist and author of Acupuncture for New Practitioners

This book is an important milestone in our understanding of how acupuncture might operate in the body, and the often remarkable correspondences between traditional Chinese and modern medical thinking... Dr Keown uses the holistic framework of Chinese Medicine to pull modern concepts together to give an inkling of what a true integrated medicine of the future might look like... the author, makes visually appealing comparisons... The writing style is creative and often humorous... Overall this book is a great read, and will certainly be enjoyed by acupuncturists interested in the connections between biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine.--Journal of Chinese Medicine

Unusually for a doctor, Daniel Keown has a deep knowledge of the theories and practice of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. His obvious love and profound understanding of anatomy and physiology means that he is almost uniquely qualified to explain how acupuncture 'works' according to the paradigm of modern science. This is an important book and essential reading for anyone interested in bridging the gap in understanding between Chinese medicine and conventional medical science.--Peter Mole, Dean of the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine, Reading, UK and author of Acupuncture for Body, Mind and Spirit

About the Author

Dr Daniel Keown has worked as a registered doctor since graduating with a medical degree from Manchester University in 1998. In 2008, he completed a degree in Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture from Kingston University, and he has studied alongside the renowned Dr Wang Ju-Yi at the Institute of Channel Diagnosis in Beijing. He lives and practises in Tunbridge Wells, UK.