McCredie, Scott 1953-

PERSONAL:

Born 1953, in Corvallis, OR. Education: Attended University of Washington.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Seattle, WA.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked as a reporter for weekly newspapers in Burns and Redmond, OR. Also wrote articles for Microsoft.

WRITINGS:

Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Alaska Airlines Magazine, Smithsonian, and the Seattle Times.

SIDELIGHTS:

In his first book, Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense, Scott McCredie presents an examination of the physiology of equilibrium. "I stumbled on the idea a few years ago after watching my father, who was sixty-seven years old at the time, take a bad fall while we were hiking in the Cascade Mountains near my home," the author writes on the book's Web site of the same name. "It was a shock both to my dad and to me." McCredie began thinking about his dad's fall and realized that he probably would not have fallen only a decade ago because of his younger age. "Something about his body had changed that made him more vulnerable to falling," wrote the author. "I began wondering what those changes were, what balance was, and if imbalance was an inevitable part of growing old. These were the questions that fueled my curiosity about the subject."

Through his exhaustive research into balance, the author discovered that there was little information aimed at the general public. He also came to realize that balance is essential to life from the time we are born until we die. In his book, the author outlines just how important balance is and delves into the physiology of balance and why it often begins to decline quickly after a person reaches age sixty. He also discusses how knowledge about balance and the how to maintain and improve it can lead to less falling and injuries in the elderly. In a surprising twist, McCredie writes about research that shows that improved balance also leads to better communication and information processing among the elderly. Ultimately, McCredie comes to the conclusion that the idea that we only have five senses, as first stated by Aristotle, is wrong. He presents his case for balance being the sixth human sense based on two factors: its necessity for survival and its relationship to human cognition.

Some reviewers, such as New York Times Book Review contributor Daniel B. Smith, argued that, though convincing, McCredie does not make a complete case for his proposal to elevate balance to the level of a human sense. Nevertheless, Smith called Balance a "spirited first book." Other reviewers had stronger praise for the book and for McCredie's ability to impart complex scientific information for a general reader. For example, a Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote: "Technical and scientific data conveyed with clarity; the consequences for individuals explored with engaging humanism: high marks all around." Donna Seaman, writing in Booklist, noted that the author also "offers practical advice for maintaining one's equilibrium and acuity."