Chapter EIGHT-ELEVEN

Chapter 8: Making Scents
To believe that animals, insects, ect., have the sense of smell was already knowledgeable to me; however, what I didn't know was how the animals and insects actually smelled things. I always believed that humans can smell just because we inhale, but it is actually something more than that. The smell actually sticks to the nasal passage which sends the message to the brain determining what the smell actually is. The thing that surprised and interested me was how fish smell. The way that fish smell was so interesting to me because for fish or other sea creatures (not sea mammals) separate the water inside them so then when they inhale the water, they also inhale the smell. The sea creatures then are able to determine what the smell is by inhaling the water. This is just like how humans or land creatures inhale the air to smell. So interesting.

Chapter 9: Vision
I don't know much about fossils so I was kind of surprised to read that fossils don't have eyes imprinted onto the fossil, however it also amazed me because the eye was even visible to Shubin. Anyways, this chapter really taught me about eyes and taught me not to take my eyesight for granted. For example, this chapter really retaught me about the anatomy of eyes and what it takes for us to see with our eyes as well. I remember that I was taught the anatomy of the eyes in the seventh grade and what it took for us to see and reading this reminded me of that lesson. For example, the light from the outside goes through the pupil and hits the retina, producing light inside our eye, sending that message to our brain, which then produces a picture. We of all life forms have a way to see and some have eyes and others don't. The ones that do have eyes are really gifted with something special and after reading this, it teaches me not to take my eyesight for granted and to take good care of my eyes.

Chapter 10: Ears
I have learned that the ear, after reading this consists of many parts. The ability to hear is as amazing as the gift of sight. Some people cannot see, some people cannot hear, and some people cannot see nor hear. The ear is simply amazing. There are so many parts to the ear that it is used to make the ear effective for its particular purpose. It taught me that ears hear in frequencies, just like bats and dolphins. The way that living organisms hear is through their ear, although most organisms don't show their ear, they have the ear inside them, hearing the frequency changes causing them to hear the "sounds". Also there is fluid in our ears, therefore, when kids or people spin, the fluid in their ears keep spinning even after they are done spinning themselves, making the people feel dizzy.

Chapter 11: The Meaning Of It All
The book has finally come to an end and I will be honest, I am kind of relieved it is ending, but also satisfied. I got so much information about the human body, and how it works. Also, his stories about his expeditions were exciting as well. I also liked how he seemed honest when writing about his expeditions because he didn't seem as though he was trying to make himself seem as though he was this big shot archaeologist. Instead, it seemed as though he was writing about how hard it was during those times of the expedition and he that he wasn't like those archaeologists that find a fossil everyday. This chapter really wraps it all up, so was a really interesting read.