Chapter 8, 9, 10, and 11

Chapter 8: Making Scents

Before reading this chapter, I never knew that scents were composed of molecules. Obviously everything is composed of atoms, however, I never stopped to think that scents, or odors were too. I thought it was interesting to find that other animals such as rats and fishes have a similar nasal openings as humans do. The charts in the book helped me further understand and clarified what Shubin was talking about. This chapter got me thinking all about scents and how my brain distinguishes them.

Chapter 9: Vision

After reading this chapter, I was so very thankful that I can see in color. Shubin really frightened me when he told us about the eyeless gene. Since I wear glasses, their are times where a sign is too far away for me to read and I get a sort of panic attack. I cannot imagine missing out on the full "life experience" simply because I can not see. It would also be terrible to be color blind, and not ever experience this beautiful world full of color, but its much better then being blind all together. This chapter kind of made me want to be an eye surgeon, because eye surgeons give one of the biggest gifts of all, the gift of sight. Just to think how it would feel to be in the room with someone who is seeing for the first time makes my skin crawl.

Chapter 10: Ears

Chapter 10 was all about the ears and how they work. I never knew that our ears have fluid in them. The most interesting thing I learned was that our inner ears contain a small sack of fluid, and when you tilt your head, the fluid is what signals to your brain that you are tilting your head. I was intrigued by this because who would have ever thought that such a small sack of fluid could send important messages like that to your brain. Overall, I found this chapter quite interesting.

Chapter 11: The Meaning of it all

The bozo diagram in chapter 11 helped Shubin make his point that we are all connected to animals. We may have gotten a certain characteristic from one ancestor, and a more recent one from another ancestor. Also, the non stop hiccups, which we got from tadpoles, that lasted 8 years was very bizarre. After finishing this book, I feel more connected to the enviorment, and I now understand what the importance of fossils are. Fossils help us understand our past, and show us what we have evolved to become. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I look forward to the class.

Brenda Panuco :)