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Loading... Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Formby Michael Sims
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  Seamusoz | Oct 10, 2009 |  Summary: This book does what it says: goes from head to toe, discussing some of the current theories about the evolution of the various body parts (he stays on the outside - eyes, lips, hands, breasts, belly button, etc.), as well as the etymology, mythology, and pop cultural aspects of the human body. Review: This book does a pretty good job balancing the science and the cultural anthropology of the human body. Personally, I think that the science was a little light - there's so much more cool stuff about human evolution than was presented here! - but I imagine that an anthropologist or an English lit major would probably think that there was quite enough science but not enough of their favorite subject. There were a few minor scientific inaccuracies I noticed, but more in the unrelated asides (snakes don't actually unhinge their jaw!) and not in the main subject matter. It was also fairly funny in parts, although occasionally it got a little precious in its chapter-closing quips, and it was subtly snarky towards the intelligent design crowd, which is always appreciated. 4 out of 5 stars. Recommendation: Like most pop-sci books, it doesn't go into enough detail for the scientist (or the scientifically literate), but the good balance with literary and mythological references makes it a nice diversion from a steady diet of fiction. (  ) fyrefly98 | Jul 26, 2007 | Cute book with lots of neat information, but I didn't think it really pulled together as a narrative very well. I was also expecting more concrete anecdotes and fewer literary ones. This probably would be a good book to read in pieces -- a chapter at a time in between other books -- instead of all in one chunk as I did it; I got tired of the pacing and style by the end. (  ) ellen.w | Jul 21, 2007 | Very fun little read. An attention-deficit dream - bits of trivia loosely linked to a body part. It follows a simple form - head to toe, and flits from topic to topic like a butterfly on speed. (  ) inblackink | Sep 25, 2005 | kristykay22 | Sep 19, 2005 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0141003618, Paperback)Are we more than the sum of our parts? Perhaps, but it's fascinating nonetheless to look at our noses, ears, feet, and other bits as isolated evolutionary stories. That's just what Michael Sims does in Adam's Navel, an amusing collection of bodily facts. Sims wrote the book while laid out recovering from back surgery, jotting free association musings about whatever body part he had in mind. The result is a set of chapters with such titles as "Skin Deep," "The Not-Quite-Naked Ape," and "Our Steed the Leg." Besides anatomy and evolution, Sims turns to literature, movies, comics, and pop culture to glean references. He doesn't have patience for puritanical or non-egalitarian attitudes toward body parts, defending Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues against a "conspiracy of silence" and dismissing Camille Paglia's "nonsensical argument" that male urination is superior to that of females. But Sims doesn't let things get too serious:
The cleft where the buttocks begin to form into two hemispheres--the butt crack famously exhibited by fat plumbers who drop wrenches--was once called the nock. The word survives elsewhere, as the name of an arrow's notch to accommodate the bowstring. As engaging as it is fact-filled, Adam's Navel brings together delightful anatomical trivia with abundant evidence that we pay as much attention to breasts, fingers, and patches of hair as we do to whole people. --Therese Littleton (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:08 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
This is an ideal book to give to an intelligent 12 year old who is curious about her/his body.
That is not to say anyone at any age wouldn't enjoy reading this work. The author has clearly researched the topic comprehensively and disgorged a digestible portion of knowledge.
Have fun.
James Pope (