Chapter 1: Finding Your Inner Fish

Well, to begin, I heard many stories about this book until it was put in my hand today. I had heard that it would probably be the 2nd most boring book I would ever read (1st being The Gatekeepers) and I also heard that it was quite a good book to fall asleep to. When I finally got a hold of the book I looked at the fish/crocodile-like animal on the cover and prayed that this book would not be boring... and I think my praying payed off.

As I skimmed the cover pages in the beginning of the book, I took a quick look at the Preface and noticed how humble Mr. Shubin was in stating that this book was merely an effect to a circumstance that occurred in his life. He gave a brief description of the main topic in the book as well as told the audience what he did for a career. As a person who enjoys science and the subject of biology, I was surprised to find that the book had not bored me yet in the slightest bit, and I was only on the Preface.

As I moved into Chapter one, I became instantly hooked. As Mr. Shubin moved from his love for his career to descriptions and methods in finding fossils to his adventures in the Canadian-Arctic lands, I found myself not even bothering to skip to the end of the chapter to see how many pages I had left until I was done (which is what I usually find myself doing). Instead, I thoroughly read through his numerous descriptions and facts on how fossils are the foundation for virtually any select species. I also thought it was quite funny how he and his crew had basically lost their perspective in icy territory, thinking that anything that moved was a polar bear (although I'm sure it wasn't really funny then). Furthermore, I found his diagrams quite useful and it helped me to understand an accurate idea of the relativity between bone structure in different species.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the way Mr. Shubin had begun his story on how fossils can mean so much in "finding your inner fish" and I actually look forward to more.

-Devin Larscheid