Ch.1 ~ Let's Find Our Inner Fish! :D

This first chapter of Your Inner Fish has left me intrigued and yearning to learn more about the mysteries of evolution. Like most of my fellow classmates, I though the book would be boring and a total waste of time. And of course, I was wrong. I found Shubin's conversational tone amusing and easy to understand. He doesn't just list a bunch of scientific facts like a monotone robot. Shubin puts his personality into his writing. He succeeds in sharing his passion for palentology with the reader through his past experiences. The steps he takes through his six years of exploration for the Tiktaalik create a sort of adventure to the reader's (or at least my) point of view. I never knew it was so difficult just to find a few fossils. I found the factor of serendipity to be ironic. I'd actually never heard the term before and had to look up its definition. Serendipity: "the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for". It was ironic how serendipity played such a huge factor in starting Shubin's search but almost disappeared by the end. It was humorous to me, but probably not to them (I'd be pretty frustrated after spending six years full of failures in the Arctic). This chapter has also refreshed my previous knowledge on geology and the different types of rocks where fossils can be found. The fact that humans are related to a completely different sort of species like fish sounded like utter nonsense before I picked up this book. But as Shubin says, "what looks impossible actually happened". And this book definitely convinces you to believe him. Needless to say, I really enjoy Your Inner Fish and look forward to what Shubin has to offer in future chapters.

~Bryanna Streeter :)