Summary:
The flaws in our anatomy raise more than a few questions. Why is it that human mothers risk their lives giving birth? Why are there medical specialties for teeth and feet? And why is it that human babies can’t hold their heads up, but horses trot around minutes after they’re born? This detailed foray into the twists and turns of our ancestral past includes no shortage of curiosity and humor to find answers.
In this funny, wide-ranging and often surprising book, biologist Alex Bezzerides tells us just where we inherited our adaptable, achy, brilliant bodies in the process of evolution.
Review:
I read this book a couple of years back and am re-reading it now because I felt like diving into something science-y. I remember liking the book on my first read, and I’m liking it even more the second time around. Bezzerides is able to walk the fine line of explaining things in plain terms without talking down the reader, which is something I appreciate. I do occasionally pick up a science book that get technical to the point that I can’t follow it easily, but that’s not an issue here.
I found it fascinating that the author was able to show how some of our most persistent anatomical shortcomings are the results of millions of years of evolution–sometimes hundreds of millions of years. At the same time, he’s able to give a concise explanation of that process, often in a way that is humorous. For example, I loved his explanation of why so many of us have bad eyes: he likens it to someone building a boat, but at the last minute, being told that he needs to make a car. He can’t start over and must work with what he has, and he produces something workable but not perfect. From this analogy, he then goes on to how our eyes evolved to work in water but had to adapt to air. Starting with the metaphor helps ease you into the evolutionary explanation.
The book is full of surprising tidbits of info that will delight the science geek, or possibly just those who love trivia. In the first few chapters, I learned that the lungs originally evolved from the digestive system and that teeth evolved before jaws. I mean, these are questions that I’m not sure I would even think to ask, and yet somebody did and was able to find the answer.
You shouldn’t go into this book thinking that the author is going to tell you how to solve your back pain or the best way to avoid choking to death. Rather, you will gain a better understanding not only of how the human body evolved the way that it did, but also why it is the way it is now. And personally, I think that you can only benefit by the information. The human body is a wonderful machine, but it does have some quirks that it behooves us to understand. I also value the reminder that evolution isn’t some race to perfection; instead, it’s an adaptation to circumstances. As the author says early on, “Lousy function trumps no function.” Evolution is about making things work, and the way that it finds isn’t always going to be pretty.
With each chapter covering a different anatomical quirk, it’s easy to dip in and out of this book and find what really interests you. I would recommend reading the whole thing, though–you never know what strange fact you might come across!
