Chapter 8-11

Chapter 8 (Making Scents): This chapter was pretty interesting and straight to the point. I would have never known smells can help humans survive. Having the capability to smell is overlooked many times because it occurs in an everyday situation. It is amazing how the molecules in the air bind to the nerve cells and signal them to the brain. Shubin also informed his readers that 3% of our genome is adamant to smell but we look past it. It was fascinating to find out that our sense of smell goes all the way back to those of fish, amphibians, and mammals.

Chapter 9 (Vision): Chapter 9 began with Shubin's experience in China and how he has found the eye of a fossil creature. This was pretty bizarre because as Shubin said in previous chapters, eyes rarely make it to to the fossil record due to its softness. I enjoyed the diagram on page 151. It was easy to understand and it gave a clear explanation of how the visual acuity increased. Shubin later described a mutation called "eyeless". This concept was interesting and frightening at the same time. The fact that the eyeless gene could be active anywhere on the body made me shiver. Overall, this was an entertaining chapter.

Chapter 10 (Ears): This chapter was very informative of how the ears work as a whole. The diagram on page 162 showed us that the bones from girl arches of fish are the same as the ears of humans. I never knew that ears helped us balance and tells us which way our head is tilted. I would have never guessed that ears were capable of doing such things.

Chapter 11 (The Meaning of it All): Overall, I loved this book. I have learned many new concepts that I would have never known without reading this book. I am glad that this was part of our summer reading assignment! I now have a new perspective of all living creatures and will value every part of the body. Shubin wrapped everything together very nicely. He reviewed some of the concepts from the previous chapters and tied everything together. This book, overall, was a very enjoyable read.

-Stacey Kim