In Praise of Walking, by Shane O’Mara: Book Review and Summary

In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration is a non-fiction book by Shane O’Mara. The book is 183 pages long, not counting the Notes and Index. Each chapter is about 20 pages, so this book is easy to consume in small chunks. In this book, the author takes a look at the humble practice of walking as an aid for mental and physical health. 

The book opens by stating that our bipedalism and upright stance is one of the major differentiations between humans and the animals we share our world with. O’Mara takes us all the way back to early tetrapods (our four-legged ancestors), and we then work our way up the evolutionary ladder, looking at other similar methods of locomotion. Humans eventually walk out of Africa and across the globe. This would be impossible without the ‘cognitive map’, our mental model of the world around us. This is where we get our built-in sense of direction.

O’Mara then gets into the mechanics of walking, and how shockingly complex it is. Humans are the only bipedal species with a truly upright spine. There have been major modifications in our body to manage this, including shifting the hole in our skull which connects to our spinal column from the back of the head (as in most four-legged creatures), to near the bottom of the skull. This allowed us free use of our hands to carry tools, weapons, resources, or children. 

This book dives into both the sociology and the neurology of walking. Walking has benefits for mental and physical health, has been shown to reduce risks of depression, increases our socialization, increases blood flow to the brain, and an entire host of other benefits. It also allows us to be more creative. And yes, that is SCIENTIFICALLY CONFIRMED. If you’re stuck on a problem, go for a walk. 

O’Mara also discusses the importance of green spaces and walking infrastructure in cities. As humanity becomes increasingly urban, we need to actively plan walking networks. It brings neighbours together, increases economic activity, reduces mental and physical diseases in the population, and slows down the effects of aging. One problem brought up by O’Mara is the lack of adequate walking infrastructure in many cities, especially for the physically disabled. For example, crosswalks are designed to be crossed at approximately 1.2 meters per second. Most senior citizens do not walk this quickly, so street crossings can be quite dangerous. 

This book was an easy read overall. It can be read in a single day if you are so inclined. It is written in a way that makes complex scientific literature understandable to a layman. That being said, I still found my mind wandering while reading this book. Maybe I should have tried walking while reading. Even though it was a short book, I still felt like it could have been shorter. 

I give this book 3 blistered feet out of 5.