Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form

A beautiful introduction for the layman of our body, the magnificent machine inside which we live and operate. If you do not plan to be a doctor of medicine, then pick up this short masterpiece and enjoy the description of yourself, although bear in mind that it covers only our external aspects.

No going into the bloody and gory insides, into pathologies, diseases and other unpleasant, albeit real and even somewhat vital innards. For Sims it's a matter of describing the exterior body parts, starting with our skin and then moving from our head in a delicious descent to reach the toes.

The book has given me so many tidbits of fascinating knowledge that I had to reread parts of it in order to remember as much as I should and wanted. This show more wass due to my advanced age and deteriorating number of brain cells, but sadly Sims does not concern himself with what goes on INSIDE the body. Perhaps a later volume of his will. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Entertaining review of the human body by an author at home with the written word- an easy read.
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

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.

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.

I happened to check this out of the library and enjoyed it enough to give it as a gift to my science-minded father. Now I have it again and I've been meaning to read it ... but again, terrible about reading books I own (or am borrowing).