Chapter 5: Getting Ahead

This chapter's title was just as witty as all the others...it grasps my attention and adds a bit of comical relief by revealing to the reader what the chapter will be about based on the title. The beginning of this chapter, in which he provides a flashback of when he was studying for a final in the lab late one night, creates a hook by describing how he felt when he realized he was standing with twenty-five dead human bodies. It made me laugh when he said it gave him the willies and he left in such a hurry that he locked his house keys...in the lab! The idea of providing a spooky story at the beginning of the chapter is a definite way of grabbing the attention of the reader early on and keeps them hooked throughout the rest of the chapter. He stated early on in the chapter that the brain made three fundamental parts: think plates, blocks, and rods. Once this was established, Shubin stated that every bone on our head can be traced to one of these three parts. This fact I found quite intriguing because it amazed me that every bone on our head can be traced to one of three fundamental parts of the brain. Instead of trying to explain the nerves in great detail, Shubin provides some details, but what really allowed me to better understand the brain is how he connects the nerves in our brain to things that we can reltate to (e.g. cable and internet). He also explains why a brain appears jumbled and seems completely random, just like the wiring and plumbing of an old building (ancient history with slight renovations as time goes on, like a brain). The idea of tracking the development of the brain starting with an embryo is very interesting because the rate at which everything was being made was at a fast-moving pace. This is where he introduced the four arches and how the trigeminal nerve is developed with the first arch, the facial nerve with the second arch, the glossopharynxgeal with the third arch, and the vagus with the fourth arch (all arose from respective arches and attend structures from the same arch). Another cool fact that Shubin stated was when he said the body is segmental, like with the spinal cord and brain. However, what really surprised me is that our arches develop the same way as they develop in sharks. This is true also with genetics and the gene process of these arches. We have acquired so much knowledge that we can manipulate the identity of gill arches at will simply by changing activity of genes inside! That is very cool in my opinion. And once the chapter nears its end, Shubin introduces a worm, Amphioxus, that has a nerve cord along its back along with a notocord, just like vertebrates, however, our notocords break apart and become disks. On top of that, this worm that has no head has the same gill arches that we find in our head! That is amazing! We even have an inner worm!