What would you expect from a book called The Wonder of Man? In German the title is Faszination Mensch. What fascinates you – what do you see as wonderful? The work of some great painter, a virtuoso singer or musician? Or perhaps it is a sensational athletic achievement, or some marvellous technological advance.
This book is concerned with the general question: What is man? What is a human being? A science writer gave the following answer:
“Man is a wonderful, inconceivably complex being. Consider the facts: A chemical factory, an electrical network, climate control, filtration plant – all these controlled centrally by the brain, a thinking computer with the additional ability of loving and hating. Our organism keeps itself alive for several decades, and through various control mechanisms, operates almost without friction. We consist of a hundred million million microscopic parts, all of which are fantastically fine-tuned to, and co-operatively integrated with, each other. When healthy, these parts are continuously rejuvenated and can even repair themselves.
“This entire marvellous body is kept in operation by a fist-sized pump, the heart, which beats 100,000 times a day and transports nourishment throughout the entire body by means of five litres of blood. The volume of air passing through our lungs during the course of a day is about 20,000 litres. This provides the necessary oxygen, and the unwanted gases are exhaled at the same time. The normal operating temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, like everything else, it is subject to wear and tear.
“The human body can be investigated with a magnification factor of 200,000 by means of electron microscopes, which enable us to observe nearly all its deepest recesses.”
Some of the aspects mentioned above warrant closer consideration. In this book we won‘t concern ourselves with the body of some special person of extraordinary ability and achievement, but with the faculties we all have in common. We will take a closer look at just some of the wonderful and ingeniously planned details of the human body. You will be amazed, to say the least, and a little thought will lead you to some vitally important conclusions.
Plan of this book: There are two main parts. In the first, many amazing details of the human body are presented, showing that we are wonderfully made. This automatically leads to the question: Whose plans and ideas are incorporated in this wonderful construction; who made us?
There are essentially only two possible answers: Either I am the result of blind physical and chemical processes planned by nobody, or I was made by an incredibly brilliant Creator. A closer look at the human body can help us to come to the appropriate conclusion.
The many numbers given in the first part for various values require a note of clarification: Textbooks and scientific articles often give divergent values for these. This is firstly because there is so much variation between individuals. Also, because many of the numbers are so large (e.g. the number of cells in the body), they can only be estimated or calculated indirectly. So it is not surprising that the numbers vary from source to source.
In the second part of the book we discuss questions about the essence of man: Why are we like we are? Why do we behave as we do? Why has no ideology succeeded in improving man? What is our future? Is death the end of everything? Is there an eternity? If so – what can we expect? While the first part emphasises scientific knowledge, in the second part the Bible takes a more central role. Bible quotes are from the King James Version.
Readership and purpose of this book: No special readership is intended. The many amazing details of the human frame will likely interest everyone, regardless of age, level of education, gender, or occupation. In this book scientific facts are linked to biblical affirmations. The main purpose of the book is to bring seekers, doubters, atheists and agnostics to faith. By faith is not meant some vague, universal religious impulse, but true saving faith in the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. For this reason the necessary space is devoted to explaining both the necessity of redemption and the way of salvation. Those who follow through will indeed see the wonder and fascination of not only the facts about their own selves, but also by the amazing Creator Who made us and told us through his prophet: “Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee: …” (Isaiah 43:4).
Acknowledgement and thanks: After discussing everything with my wife, as usual, the manuscript was scrutinised by Dr Jutta Nemitz (Braunschweig) and by AndreasWolff (Giessen). Our son, Carsten, prepared some cartoons concerning our sense organs. I am grateful to all involved for their valued assistance. Finally, I thank CLV-Verlag for their constructive critiques and pleasant cooperation in the production of this illustrated publication.
Werner Gitt
Additional foreword to the English edition
As author, I am delighted that this book is now appearing in the English language. The initial strenuous work of translation was done by Prof. Dr Jaap Kies (South Africa). He was assisted in translation of the many technical medical terms by Dr Desmond Stumpf and Dr Johannes Steinberg. Rudolf Steinberg Pr. Eng. was of great support by looking up the original English citations in libraries, where the text originated from a translation into German.
The main purpose of the book is to win people for heaven. It is thus necessary to explain the nature of heaven in some detail. The original German book only devoted two pages to this central theme, so for the English version, these were replaced with a substantially expanded section. I am thankful to Dörte Götz, MA, for translating this chapter. She has a degree in English and Russian translation from the University of Heidelberg (Germany). Veronika Abraham, pursuing studies towards a BA in History and Philosophy at Queen’s University in Canada, also helped with translating this chapter. Sarah Jayne Curtius, BA, was born in Britain and completed German and English language studies in Sheffield. She has reviewed this chapter stylistically, making refinements where necessary.
Finally, my friend Dr Carl Wieland (Australia) went through the entire translated manuscript in detail, checking against the original and correcting as necessary from both a medical and stylistic viewpoint, as well as translating a number of additional sections I provided for the various chapters. Dr Wieland is the director of the worldrenowned organisation for creation science/ research‚ “Answers in Genesis” in Brisbane (Australia). He is editor of their brilliantly presented and colourful English-language magazine “Creation ex Nihilo” (print run > 50,000) which has subscribers in more than 120 countries.
To all who have helped in any way in bringing about the publication of this edition, I extend my warmest thanks.
Werner Gitt November 1998
NEXT Man - An ingenious Construction