Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body (
This book is in a Controlled Release!
1 journaler for this copy...
From the back cover: "Why do we look the way we do?
Neil Shubin, the paleontologist and professor of anatomy who co-discovered Tiktaalik, the 'fish with hands,' tells the story of our bodies as you've never heard it before. By examining fossils and DNA, he shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our heads are organized like long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genome look, and function, like those of worms and bacteria. Your Inner Fish makes us look at ourselves and our world in an illuminating new light. This is science writing at its finest—enlightening, accessible, and told with irresistible enthusiasm."
Neil Shubin, the paleontologist and professor of anatomy who co-discovered Tiktaalik, the 'fish with hands,' tells the story of our bodies as you've never heard it before. By examining fossils and DNA, he shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our heads are organized like long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genome look, and function, like those of worms and bacteria. Your Inner Fish makes us look at ourselves and our world in an illuminating new light. This is science writing at its finest—enlightening, accessible, and told with irresistible enthusiasm."
I've posted a review of this book up on my blog—basically a collection of the comments I made about it on the Book Talk forum here on BookCrossing.
"The book was well worth reading. I was aching for some science and got it. Very fascinating discussion of various anatomical features humans have (e.g. limbs, eyes, ears, bodies) and from what ancestors we got them (fish, microbes, worms). Interesting stuff like how the bones in mammalian ears evolved from jawbones of fish, and how our genes show evidence of messy evolution over time rather than any kind of rational design.
[...]
Flies have genes that are associated with development of sections of their bodies and those same genes in us are associated with the same regions of our bodies. Shark heads and human heads have the same gill arches and nerve structures. Very cool.
It’s also amazing to think of how life went from being a bunch of single celled organisms into all the myriads of species we see today, all from miniscule changes over time.
He also has some very interesting facts about weaknesses we have due to our evolutionary history. For example, hiccups are a holdover from our amphibian days when as tadpoles we needed to close our airway."
"The book was well worth reading. I was aching for some science and got it. Very fascinating discussion of various anatomical features humans have (e.g. limbs, eyes, ears, bodies) and from what ancestors we got them (fish, microbes, worms). Interesting stuff like how the bones in mammalian ears evolved from jawbones of fish, and how our genes show evidence of messy evolution over time rather than any kind of rational design.
[...]
Flies have genes that are associated with development of sections of their bodies and those same genes in us are associated with the same regions of our bodies. Shark heads and human heads have the same gill arches and nerve structures. Very cool.
It’s also amazing to think of how life went from being a bunch of single celled organisms into all the myriads of species we see today, all from miniscule changes over time.
He also has some very interesting facts about weaknesses we have due to our evolutionary history. For example, hiccups are a holdover from our amphibian days when as tadpoles we needed to close our airway."
I acquired this book for the What is Stephen Harper Reading? — The BookCrossing Edition Release Challenge.
I've sent it to Stephen Harper at his parliamentary office. The release entry includes the letter I sent with it.
I've sent it to Stephen Harper at his parliamentary office. The release entry includes the letter I sent with it.
This was the letter I included with the book:
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Dear Mr. Harper,
I’ve been following Yann Martel’s site What is Stephen Harper Reading? for a couple of years now. I was moved by his intent in sending you books for you to contemplate in the hours of stillness every human being should take (if they are fortunate enough to have the opportunity) to contemplate the larger questions of self and society. I’ve been inspired by his letters and his recommendations, since he’s been generous enough to share them with all of us though he’s writing particularly to you.
As Mr Martel is off promoting his new novel, I (and several friends at BookCrossing.com) wanted to let you know that there are plenty of people willing to take up any slack which may have been left by Mr Martel’s absence.
To that end, I’m sending you this book, Your Inner Fish, one of the few non-fiction titles you’ve received. In it, American palaeontologist Neil Shubin recounts his search for fossils of the earliest limbed animals, which resulted in an expedition to Ellesmere Island where he found what he was looking for—Tiktaalik (an Inuktitut word meaning “large, freshwater fish”)—a fish which had evolved specialised front fins, complete with wrists and proto-fingers.
Shubin uses a description of Tiktaalik as a jumping-off point to talk about humans and how we came to be as we are, and from what non-human ancestors we inherited the various features (and bugs) of our anatomy. With his down to earth explanatory style, he reveals over and over our relationship to other organisms, both extinct and alive, and by extension our deep connection to the planet. By the end of this book, I guarantee that you will never look at yourself the same way again.
And that’s the beauty of both literature and science. Profit and loss in business is for the short term, but a scientific discovery or a literary masterpiece can change the world forever. So in between G20 meetings and barbeque photo ops, please take some time out to get in touch with your inner fish. And please do everything you can to help Canadian scientists make the next big discovery.
Yours truly,
Ibis3
Encl: one inscribed and labelled book
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Dear Mr. Harper,
I’ve been following Yann Martel’s site What is Stephen Harper Reading? for a couple of years now. I was moved by his intent in sending you books for you to contemplate in the hours of stillness every human being should take (if they are fortunate enough to have the opportunity) to contemplate the larger questions of self and society. I’ve been inspired by his letters and his recommendations, since he’s been generous enough to share them with all of us though he’s writing particularly to you.
As Mr Martel is off promoting his new novel, I (and several friends at BookCrossing.com) wanted to let you know that there are plenty of people willing to take up any slack which may have been left by Mr Martel’s absence.
To that end, I’m sending you this book, Your Inner Fish, one of the few non-fiction titles you’ve received. In it, American palaeontologist Neil Shubin recounts his search for fossils of the earliest limbed animals, which resulted in an expedition to Ellesmere Island where he found what he was looking for—Tiktaalik (an Inuktitut word meaning “large, freshwater fish”)—a fish which had evolved specialised front fins, complete with wrists and proto-fingers.
Shubin uses a description of Tiktaalik as a jumping-off point to talk about humans and how we came to be as we are, and from what non-human ancestors we inherited the various features (and bugs) of our anatomy. With his down to earth explanatory style, he reveals over and over our relationship to other organisms, both extinct and alive, and by extension our deep connection to the planet. By the end of this book, I guarantee that you will never look at yourself the same way again.
And that’s the beauty of both literature and science. Profit and loss in business is for the short term, but a scientific discovery or a literary masterpiece can change the world forever. So in between G20 meetings and barbeque photo ops, please take some time out to get in touch with your inner fish. And please do everything you can to help Canadian scientists make the next big discovery.
Yours truly,
Ibis3
Encl: one inscribed and labelled book
