By Way of Introduction 13
1. Second Skin 18
What to wear to war
2. Boom Box 40
Automotive safely for people who drive on bombs
3. Fighting By Ear 56
The conundrum of military noise
4. Below the Belt 72
The cruelest shot of all
5. It Could Get Weird 88
A salute to genital transplants
6. Carnage Under Fire 104
How do combat medics cope?
7. Sweating Bullets 124
The war on heat
8. Leaky Seals 142
Diarrhea as a threat to national security
9. The Maggot Paradox 164
Flies on the battlefield, for better and worse
10. What Doesn't Kill You Will Make You Reek 184
A brief history of stink bombs
11. Old Chum 202
How to make and test shark repellent
12. That Sinking Feeling 222
When things go wrong under the sea
13. Up and Under 242
A submarine tries to sleep
14. Feedback from the Fallen 264
How the dead help the living stay that way
Acknowledgments 273
Bibliography 277