Chapter 2: Getting a Grip

Shubin begins the chapter by talking about his first human dissection. The hand, he claims, is "a visible connection between us," and "a signature for who we are and what we can attain" (29). Shubin mentions the importance of an arm, or hand, that I hadn't considered before. He transitions from this to the idea that the bone structure of most creatures are all similar, but differ in the size and shapes of these bones. The anatomist Robert Owens discovered a relationship between even the most diverse creatures: their limbs. He claimed that bones conform to the idea of "one bone, followed by two bones, then little blobs, then fingers and toes" (31). However, ancient fish did not possess the wrist structures that land animals had, although scientists discovered a fish in South America that had developed lungs. With fossils of the Tiktaalik, Shubin mentions that the fish even might have been able to do a push-up. However, he also mentions that the structures of our bodies do not resemble a fish - it resembles an entire aquarium. It's fascinating to think that we are so much more complex than fish, or even other organisms, but we still share our humble origins- beginning with the blueprint of our wrists.

-Irene Kim