Neil Shubin is a professor and associate dean at the University of Chicago. Also a paleontologist, Shubin made headlines around the world in April 2006 when he discovered the “missing link” in the world of fish with Tiktaalik, a fish with many features like that of tetrapods or four-legged animals. When asked to teach a human anatomy course, Shubin discovered that a lot of the structures and evolutionary processes of the human body could be better explained through the evolution of fish anatomy. Thus was born Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5 Billion-Year History of the Human Body.
Shubin breaks everything down into its fundamental parts, with specific chapters on genes, teeth, scents, ears, and sight. He traces the evolutionary history of the important organs of the body, tracing their development over the millions of years through fish and other animals. It is a fascinating study into how the evolutionary marvel of the incredibly complex human body came to be; how organs, tissues, and vessels changed and improved through a process of natural selection to become the most beneficial. The result is a never-stopping fast-running factory house with over a million continuous processes that is taken for granted by most of the world’s population.
Shubin writes in a simple and easy style that makes it accessible to any reader, no matter their scientific knowledge or background. Filled with pictures and tables and graphs illustrating the facts, Your Inner Fish is an interesting read into our evolutionary history as seen through the developing bodies of the animal kingdom.
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Originally written on May 30th 2008 ©Alex C. Telander.
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