Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body

Whydowelookthewaywedo?Whatdoesthehumanhandhaveincommonwiththewingofafly?Arebreasts,sweatglands,andscalesconnectedinsomeway?Tobetterunderstandtheinnerworkingsofourbodiesandtotracetheoriginsofmanyoftoday'smostcommondiseases,wehavetoturntounexpectedsources:worms,flies,andevenfish.NeilShubin,aleadingpaleontologistandprofessorofanatomywhodiscoveredTiktaalik—the"missinglink"thatmadeheadlinesaroundtheworldinApril2006—tellsthestoryofevolutionbytracingtheorgansofthehumanbodybackmillionsofyears,longbeforethefirstcreatureswalkedtheearth.ByexaminingfossilsandDNA,Shubinshowsusthatourhandsactuallyresemblefishfins,ourheadisorganizedlikethatofalong-extinctjawlessfish,andmajorpartsofourgenomelookandfunctionlikethoseofwormsandbacteria.Shubinmakesusseeourselvesandourworldinacompletelynewlight.YourInnerFishissciencewritingatitsfinest—enlightening,accessible,andtoldwithirresistibleenthusiasm.