no head to head

In this chapter Shubin once again introduces the reader with one of his short stories from his experience; this was particularly interesting as the author helped hook me to the book right away as it portrays Shubin also like us, students studying and also as just like Joowon said, "it reminded me during my high school dissection experiences."

I found especially helpful was Shubin's breakdown of the head: as plates, blocks, and rods. It would truly be a "bewildering mess" as Shubin even stated that, "the human head, once opened, looks like a clump of tangled fishing lines". Also helpful was Shubin's description of the cranial nerve functions with very common experiences and actions which we all have experienced and executed such as the shot of anesthetic at the doctor's or the daily smile and frown.

In this chapter a main fact that I learned was the four arches as they form the jaws, ears larynx, and throat. Also developed there are bones, muscles, nerves and arteries. I also learned how our bodies were segmented, especially shown through our vertebrae, even though not very distinguishable.

I also found interesting the comparison between the shark and the human in terms of the development with the four arches, which helped portray the idea of how our heads are "built" from a simple and elegant blueprint". Also interesting was the influence which these four arches had, as when scientists played around with the battery of genes in the frog. By making genetic signals in the first and second arches similar the embryo developed two jaws.

-Kevin Chun