When I first saw that we had to read this book as a summer assignment, I thought that it would just be another monotonous read. But, as I started to read the book, I realized that it was actually interesting.
What I like most so far is Shubin's writing style. He is able to explain everything clearly, so people who have no idea about paleontology will have a clear understanding about what he is talking about. It is unlike many non-fiction books because it doesn't give scientific facts that only professionals will understand. Shubin's conversational and casual tones make the book more captivating; it seems as if he is talking to the readers and telling them a story, rather than just documenting his actions. Additionally, Shubin's use of images and comparisons helped me understand what he was addressing. For instance, he compares planning an expedition to planning for war; even though planning is essential for bot, it is ultimately useless.
After completing this chapter, I admire Shubin's dedication and perseverance. Even under terrible conditions, he doesn't give up his search for the "needle in the haystack." I know that if I were in his place, I would be extremely frustrated.
I also found it interesting when Shubin explained how the geography of the world has changed so much. One example he gives is the Arctic, where remains of an environment much like the Amazon are found. I never knew that such drastic changes could have occurred.
So far, this book has managed to keep my interest. I am looking forward to finding out more about Shubin's discoveries.
-Aarti Kumar
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I completely agree with Aarti after reading the first chapter of this book. From the beginning, Neil Shubin did a really good job explaining his job and studies through elaborate descriptions and in some cases, diagrams that went along his explanations. By including visuals throughout his writings, it makes it easier for me to understand the evolutions, being a visual learner myself . Additionally, thanks to his easy to understand use of vocabulary, readers can easily understand then information he is presenting. I found it most interesting, and never realized that there were animals that were the transition from water to land. I always knew about the types of fish that could survive on land for a period of time, just never realized there were actual animals that showed the transition.Finally going off from what Aarti lastly mentions, it is amazing to take into account how much the earths appearance has changed in the past 3.5 billion years.
ReplyDelete-Kallie Ochiai
I also agree with Aarti based on chapter one. It did look boring at fist but when I started actually reading the book it had gotten more detailed. Also based on his book the images that he creates makes it more fascinating to read. For example when he describes how the layers of rock can be misplaced by natural disasters , kind of like the fish he had found. I also agree with Aarti that Shubin's conversational and casual tones make the book more captivating by having him experiencing all the things he had went through to make connections to the outside world. For example when he used the history of rock layers to find out that layers can be misplaced to find out how old was that fish/crocodile like creature(Tiktaalik).
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