Size matters : how height affects the health, happiness, and success of boys--and the men they become / Stephen S. Hall.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 328-373) and index.

Introduction: "squirt" -- Little people -- "Chunky" [gestation and birthweight] -- "Longitude" and "pondus absolutum" [a history of the growth chart] -- A brief interruption for a bicycle accident [the growth of bones and the creation of height] -- "My, how you've grown ..." -- The invention of childhood [growth from ages two to ten] -- The bully inside me [the consequences of being a bully] -- Runts, sneaks, and dominators [size, aggression, and animal behavior] -- The spurt -- "To grow hairy ..." [the biology of puberty and the growth spurt] -- Belittled [the consequences of being bullied] -- The Prussian curse [heightism, or the birth of the "altocracy"] -- Timing -- A matter of timing [early and late pubertal maturation] -- "Man in his perfection" [adolescent boys and male body image] -- "The emperor's new medicine cabinet [the paradoxes of human growth hormone and height augmentation] -- Stature as metaphor -- "College" and beyond [the end of physical growth] -- The tallest people on earth [height as a socioeconomic measure] -- Final height ["heightism" deconstructed] -- Epilogue: "if they get a good nipple".

"With a mix of fresh research, incisive reportage, and bracing candor, Size Matters traces the surprising history of society's bias against shortness and reveals how short people can and do thrive in spite of this insidious bigotry. Drawing on his own childhood experiences (he was shorter than 99 percent of boys his age), Stephen Hall explains the evolution of the growth chart, the biology of childhood aggression, and the wrenching phenomenon of bullying. He explores the factors that determine why one child's small stature may lead to anguish while another short child develops an emotional resilience that will enrich his later life. Weaving together recent findings from the fields of animal behavior, psychology, and evolutionary biology, Hall assesses the role of physical size in mating success and argues that the alpha male may not be king of the mountain after all."--BOOK JACKET.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.