Giving Sweat the Respect It Deserves

Not only is the humble fluid a boon for keeping humans cool, it also contains a wealth of biological information.

| 5 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
5:00
Share

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM,
JADETHAICATWALK

If you tallied up all the sweat glands of every human currently on Earth, you’d get a number in the quadrillions, more than there are stars in the Milky Way. Like our big brains and near nakedness, the bountiful activity of these sweat glands—sprinkled across our skin like stars in the night sky—helps distinguish humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Yet instead of celebrating the sophisticated temperature control system embedded in our own skin, many of us contribute to the $75 billion deodorant and antiperspirant industry that aims to erase evidence of our hardworking pores.

In writing a book on the science of sweat, I surprised myself by becoming a person who gives perspiration pep talks. I guess there’s no doubt where I stand on the topic when my book is called The Joy of Sweat.

But I was not always so enamored with ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Sarah Everts

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

July 2021

Bacteria-Guided Evolution

Animals' adaptive changes may be influenced by microbes within

Share
A greyscale image of cells dividing.
March 2025, Issue 1

How Do Embryos Know How Fast to Develop

In mammals, intracellular clocks begin to tick within days of fertilization.

View this Issue
Discover the history, mechanics, and potential of PCR.

Become a PCR Pro

Integra Logo
Explore polypharmacology’s beneficial role in target-based drug discovery

Embracing Polypharmacology for Multipurpose Drug Targeting

Fortis Life Sciences
3D rendered cross section of influenza viruses, showing surface proteins on the outside and single stranded RNA inside the virus

Genetic Insights Break Infectious Pathogen Barriers

Thermo Fisher Logo
A photo of sample storage boxes in an ultra-low temperature freezer.

Navigating Cold Storage Solutions

PHCbi logo 

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Gilead’s Capsid Revolution Meets Our Capsid Solutions: Sino Biological – Engineering the Tools to Outsmart HIV

Stirling Ultracold

Meet the Upright ULT Built for Faster Recovery - Stirling VAULT100™

Stirling Ultracold logo
Chemidoc

ChemiDoc Go Imaging System ​

Bio-Rad
The Scientist Placeholder Image

Evotec Announces Key Progress in Neuroscience Collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb