Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin by Neil Shubin

William Leith5 April 2012

Neil Shubin is very interested in the fact that humans are the descendants not just of apes but of mice, reptiles and fish, too.

Here, he tells the story of how single-celled life-forms clumped together for the sake of security, becoming creatures with bodies.

And he tells us how, and why, these bodies developed sensory organs, and teeth, and fins, and eventually arms and legs. His main point is that evolution is a process of developing what's already there — the first skulls, for instance, were adapted teeth, and the first limbs were adapted fins. He's a fossilhunter and DNA wizard, and a fine thinker, too — and his endless enthusiasm is terrific.

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

"Your Inner Fish" tells the extraordinary history of the human body and gives answers to some of the questions that only evolution can. Why do we look the way we do? Why are we able to do all the different things we do? And, finally, why do we fall ill in the way that we do? Neil Shubin draws on the latest genetic research and his huge experience as an expeditionary paleontologist to show the incredible impact the 3.5 billion year history of life has had on our bodies. He takes readers on a fascinating, unexpected journey and allows us to discover the deep connection to nature in our own bodies.

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