This book provides a rigorous yet accessible introduction to the scientific study of sociology and other social sciences. It is designed to provide students with the basic tools needed to be both critical consumers and beginning producers of scholarly social science research.

Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. What is metabolism?; 2. Metabolic fuels; 3. Metabolic pathways; 4. Communication systems in human metabolism; 5. ATP, the common currency of metabolic energy; 6. Metabolism in daily life; 7. Metabolism is so adaptable; 8. Metabolic interactions between nutrients; 9. Metabolic disorders; Concluding remarks; Summary of common misunderstandings; Index.

Keith Frayn is Emeritus Professor of Human Metabolism at the University of Oxford, UK. In a long and varied career studying human metabolism and nutrition, he has worked in various settings from diabetes clinics to Accident and Emergency departments and Intensive Care wards. His work has been widely recognised with awards including the first Blaxter Medal of the Nutrition Society, the David Cuthbertson Lecture at the European Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, and Honorary Fellowship of the Nutrition Society.