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University of California Press
June 2008
On Sale: May 21, 2008
288 pages
ISBN: 0520256247
EAN: 9780520256248
Paperback
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Non-Fiction
We expose it, cover it, paint it, tattoo it, scar it, and
pierce it. Our intimate connection with the world, skin
protects us while advertising our health, our identity, and
our individuality. This dazzling synthetic overview, written
with a poetic touch and taking many intriguing side
excursions, is a complete guidebook to the pliable covering
that makes us who we are. Skin: A Natural History
celebrates the evolution of three unique attributes of
human skin: its naked sweatiness, its distinctive sepia
rainbow of colors, and its remarkable range of decorations.
Jablonski begins with a look at skin's structure and
functions and then tours its three-hundred-million-year
evolution, delving into such topics as the importance of
touch and how the skin reflects and affects emotions. She
examines the modern human obsession with age-related changes
in skin, especially wrinkles. She then turns to skin as a
canvas for self-expression, exploring our use of cosmetics,
body paint, tattooing, and scarification. Skin: A Natural
History places the rich cultural canvas of skin within
its broader biological context for the first time, and the
result is a tremendously engaging look at ourselves.
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