Since I have read extensively into this there really wasn't much that was new. That didn't detract from the importance of the information nor get me off my soapbox on helping folx desexualizing touch. We need touch as humans; to build trust, to lower cortisol, give us sweet sweet Oxytocin, to help us thrive physically and mentally.

"The astonishing secrets of our senses, and how to harness them to change your personal and professional life." - Touch, David J. Linden

The synopsis and the blurbs of this book caught my attention, as i'm a person who really loves science

But this book... Well... It is a super hard science. Idk, the information is too much and complicated for me to absorb and understand. And plus i don't have any basic knowledge in biology, this book surely made me feel super clueless with all the jargons

Maybe if you are into biology, and have basic in it, you could read this book. If you are clueless as me, i would not recommend this

I pretty much skim read this book as I found it to be quite a hard read, given the amount of detailed scientific terms and descriptions. Its undoubtedly interesting, in parts and I enjoyed reading some of the example situations as described in the book but it went, ironically, somewhat over my head for the most part.

The book features lots of diagrams and illustrations - it resembled a biology textbook.

I have a new personal policy: if you take the time to describe violent and repeated rape, and it seems to be an attempt to "liven it up" or "add interest" rather than directly necessary to your explanation of the topic at hand, then I stop reading your book. A moment's thought would tell you that some readers will be unable to read this anecdote without pain, and although I'm not among them, I'm not inclined to read pop science written by thoughtless people.

Considering how much depends on the sense of touch, it seems surprising that more scientists haven’t taken up the subject in books for general audiences. Although some recent books have visited the science of touch within the context of broader cultural explorations (for example, Matthew Fulkerson’s The First Sense: A Philosophical Study of Human Touch, published in 2013, and Constance Classen’s 2012 text The Deepest Sense: A Cultural History of Touch), neuroscientist David J. Linden’s book Touch stands apart. Linden elevates the conversation about touch, providing an unusually detailed and original perspective. He visits all the major tactile sensations in turn—pressure and object perception, proprioception, caress, sexual pleasure, temperature sensation, pain, itch, tickling, and touch illusions—unpacking what we know about how these messages are carried from source to brain. As researchers’ knowledge about the human senses is advancing at an unprecedented rate, Linden serves as a lucid, witty guide who avoids oversimplifying the facts while exploring what is known about our tactile sensations as well as the mysteries that remain.

Linden shows that our touch circuitry powerfully affects surprising aspects of our lives, often without our realizing it. Touching a client in a gentle, nonthreatening way can garner doctors higher health care ratings and wait staff higher tips. National Basketball Association teams that exchange more high fives, fist bumps, shoulder bumps, and other celebrations through touch score more. Indeed, this sense is essential to our social bonding and to our social bonding and to our development.
Read the rest: http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/one-singular-sensation

3.5 - A few interesting tidbits

Very informative