A fascinating, thought-provoking, and at times alarming journey into our built environment
The benefits of nature are widely known. Regular forays into the outside world have proven beneficial effects. But how do we cope at a time when we're all stuck indoors?

COVID-19 has laid bare, and accelerated, an already well-documented trend: we spend the majority of our lives shuttling between homes and offices, schools and hospitals. While this may be an inescapable reality of the modern urban condition, it also begs the question: What effect do the environments we've built for ourselves have on our mental and physical well-being? In this wide-ranging, character-driven book, Emily Anthes takes us on a trip that starts with the microscopic (the surprising and rather horrifying array of microbes with which we share our homes) and ends with the big picture (what buildings on Mars would have to look like in order to sustain life). Along the way, she visits a fascinating array of scientists, architects, and other professionals working on the cutting edge of design.

Ranging from smart operating rooms that decrease human error to schools constructed to enhance learning, and from apartment buildings designed for neuroatypical residents to hospitals designed to reduce rates of infection in patients and staff, The Great Indoors is an argument for thoughtful interventions in the built environment and a celebration of the adaptive genius of human beings—with vital lessons at a time when indoor architecture matters more to human health than ever before.