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A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
Pantheon
January 2008
On Sale: January 15, 2008
240 pages
ISBN: 0375424474
EAN: 9780375424472
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Why do we look the way we do? What does the human hand have
in common with the wing of a fly? Are breasts, sweat glands,
and scales connected in some way? To better understand the
inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of
many of today's most common diseases, we have to turn to
unexpected sources: worms, flies, and even fish. Neil Shubin, a leading paleontologist and professor of
anatomy who discovered Tiktaalik—the "missing link" that
made headlines around the world in April 2006—tells the
story of evolution by tracing the organs of the human body
back millions of years, long before the first creatures
walked the earth. By examining fossils and DNA, Shubin shows
us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our head is
organized like that of a long-extinct jawless fish, and
major parts of our genome look and function like those of
worms and bacteria. Shubin makes us see ourselves and our world in a completely
new light. Your Inner Fish is science writing at its
finest—enlightening, accessible, and told with irresistible
enthusiasm.
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