This was a summary of everything. After all this talk about evolution and fossils, I thought it was a pretty good book. By combining my beliefs in God and creation and fossils and evolution, my outlook on the world and its history is truly extraordinary.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Chapter 10 & 11
I thought the ears chapter was pretty cool. Well better than the other chapters. I found it interesting how only recently that mammals came to have external ear flaps. I also found it intriguing how we have liquid inside our ears and by tilting one's head the liquid moves letting the brain know what direction your head is tilt.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Chapter 11: The Meaning of it All
This was the final chapter in this informative, yet entertaining book. I enjoyed how Shubin managed to tie it all together at the end and leave you feeling satisfied with the knowledge he presented, yet also making you want to learn more. The biological "law of everything" is what I found myself focusing on most during this chapter. Everything he mentioned I would tie to this fundamental law. This law basically means that every living thing on the planet had parents. This law even found a way to connect to the biological mechanism of heredity to allow us to apply it even to creatures like bacteria. The extension of this law is that all of us are modified descendants of our parents, or our parental genetic information. The central issue of this law is deciphering the family tree of species, or their pattern of relatedness. This issue was described like a peeling onion with tracing relatedness through subsets: revealing layer after layer of history. It was cool how Shubin compared us and our inner fish to a hot-rod Beetle (throwing in a history lesson with Hitler and Porsche). This comparison allowed me to understand why we are bound to have problems...I could also understand the issues we face by referencing back to this comparison. The issue of hiccups grasped my attention the most though because of its complexity and how the nerve spasm was a product of our fish history, while the hic is an outcome of history shared with animals such as tadpoles. I found it shocking how diseases such as cardioencephalonyopathy can kill infants that have it. This disease is a genetic change that interrupts normal metabolic funcition of mitochondria. Discoveries of our inner flies, worms, yeast and fish help us find causes of diseases we suffer from and allow us to find ways we can develop tools to live longer and healthier. So while our ancestry can handicap us in some ways, knowledge of our ancestry can help us overcome them.
Chapter 10: Ears
Ears are made up of three sections: outer, or external, the middle, and the inner. The external ear is the newest addition, with the pinna (external ear flap) and is only present in mammals. Mammals also have three middle ear bones, however, reptiles and amphibians have only two, while fish have none! This fact surprised me because I didn't know that our ear bones were so special. A scientist by the name of Reichert discovered that parts of the ears of mammals are the same as parts of jaws of reptiles.(This was extremely revolutinary for his time since this was before Darwin's proposal of evolution). Later on, a scientest named Gaupp used Reichert's discovery to say the three middle ear bones reveal a tie between reptiles and mammals; if indeed the case, the fossil record should show bones shifting from jaw to ear during the origin of mammals...which was eventually confirmed! The origin of mammals include new ways of hearing by repurposing exisiting bones found in reptiles! The middle ear contains the records of two important subjects: one is the origin of our stapes and transformation of a jaw support bone to an ear bone, beginning when fish started to walk on land, and two, the bones at the back of the reptile jaw became our malleus and incus. Shubin helped me understand the inner ear and its gel by comparing it to a snow globe. Once I understood this concept, I also understod the inner ear's basic chain of events: gel inside swishes, hair projections on nerves bend, and an impulse is sent to our brains. This process is made more sensitive with tiny rock-like structure on top of the membrane that allows the gel to move more inside our inner ear. Our inner ear correlates with the eye to assess position and acceleration. Shubin said the best way to understand this is by obstructing it...by sharing what happens in the inner ear when a person is drunk. I found it funny when he said we can thank these occurences because of our shared history with sharks and fish, stating, 'the spinning drunk and fish's water-sensing organs have common genes.' He also stated that mammals obtained a better sense of hearing because their inner ear is developed in a different way compared to other animals. Scientists discovered Pax 2, which is a gene active in the ear region that starts a chain reaction of gene activity that leads to the development of the inner ear. Pax 2 reminded me of Pax 6 from the previous chapter and I was glad to know that they seem to have a link other than their similar names. The box jellyfish (which has eyes!!!) shows that although it does not have either of these genes, it has a gene that 'is a mosaic' to the structure of both Pax 2 and Pax 6...in other words, this jellyfish had a primitive version of both of these genes!
Chapter 9: Vision
Shubin began this chapter by comparing the history of the eye to that of a car, where we can trace its history through the different parts present. He specified that the eyes capture light by using sensitive light-gathering cells. These cells allow the retina to absorb light, and, thus, allow us to see. I was intrigued that we had two types of these cells: one that is very sensitive (black and white vision), and one that is less sensitive (color vision). By finding the percentage of each type of light-sensing cell in an animal's eye, we can determine whether they are specialized for daylight or night...and 70 percent of the sensory cells in our body are these light-gathering cells!! That allowed me to see how much we rely on our vision for survival. Since we use these cells everyday, this made me want to know how they work...so I found it extremely intereseting how the molecules that collect light divide into two parts: one derived from Vitamin A and the other from a protein called opsin (we use different opsins to see in black and white or in color). For our vision, we need three light-gathering molecules for color vision, whereas, we only need one of these for black and white vision. These molecules change shape in light, which is why it takes awhile for us to see when we go from some place extremely bright to some place darker. Opsins use the same receptor path as seen in parts of certain molecules in bacteria! So, in a sense, we can see because of these specific molecules in bacteria. Color vision developed in a similar way as which our odor-receptor genes developed...that is, one of the genes in other mammals duplicated and copies specialized overtime for different light sources...so our sight and sense of smell have more similarities than I originally perceived. Scientists believe the switch to color vision correlates to the switch from one forest to another forest with more colorful food. Scientists also found that animal eyes have a change in their tissue formation (vertebrate vs. invertebrate). The eyeless gene, or Pax 6, was found to control the development of eyes. This gene, when mutated, can result in small eyes, or no eyes at all. And when this gene is turned on in different parts of the body, an eye is developed there! As a result, I learned that Pax 6 controls the development in everything that has eyes....and even if eyes are different, the genetic switches that make them are the same.
Chapter 9-11
Chapter 9- “Vision”
This chapter taught me that eyes aren’t the best candidates for fossil preservation due to its softness and vulnerability. I learned that scent and vision have many similarities. One of which is the amount of history one has behind it. It evolves into a better, more efficient structure as each generation passes and is made up of parts and pieces of each model before it: “simply a mosaic.” I was also very intrigued by the path light takes throughout each part of our eyes. I never knew that we need two different kinds of cells to attract different levels of sensitivity in light. Last, Gehring’s experiment showed me that with the eyeless gene, one can manipulate the DNA sequence of a certain organism: adding a new eye or change the location of the eye.
Chapter 10- “Ears”
When I think of an ear, I think of the outer part, the part we can see. I never knew it consisted of three parts, each with different functions. Although, the idea that surprised me the most was that our inner ear was actually comprised of part of our jaw. Our jaw actually shrunk over time to fit the inner parts of our ear. With this, we are able to acquire a more advanced ear with more features. I also found out that acceleration is one of the functions our ear is capable of. When we accelerate, fluid in our air swishes and produces a nerve impulse that is sent to our brain to tell us we are accelerating. Who knew such immense teamwork existed in our bodies?
Chapter 11- “The Meaning of It All"
I believe the most important information in this chapter was the pattern of descent with modification. With this concept, students/educators can clearly understand the way life’s history works and how everything was produced. The diagram of the “bozos” amused me, but at the same time educated me in my knowledge of family history. I also found the idea of suffering for all of our new and improved features very surprising because I never thought of all the defects our body had. When something hurt, I just endured it or took medicine. When Shubin described humanity as “sedentary,” it really encouraged me to be more active so I wouldn’t have to go through all the problems that humans face. Last, when he described all of our diseases and sicknesses, I felt like I had all the knowledge one can possibly attain. Being able to learn all the origins of our diseases gave me a sense of hope that maybe, I can try to avoid it in the future. All in all, I am very grateful to read this novel because I was able to learn more about the human body and that it is important to grow healthy for future generations.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Ch.8-11
Ch. 8 Making Sense
I never thought that extracting DNA was easy. I figured it would take a team of researchers and a well equipped lab, but Shubin proved me wrong when he said that we can extract DNA in our own kitchen, with just easily accessible ingredients such as dish wash soap, water, salt, etc.
Shubin called DNA an "extraordinarily powerful window into life's history" in the first page of the chapter, but on the next page, he called DNA goop. I was shocked and amused at the same time because i figured that this chapter will be informative and boring because of the way he described DNA the first time. I was also shocked to find out that genes involved in the sense of smell was in every cell. I thought they were only in the nasal area, but i found out that the genes in the nasal area are the only ones active. Our genes are amazing. Shubin described that "some people can detect the odor molecules in a green bell pepper at a concentration of less than one part per trillion". He compared that to "picking out one grain of sand from a mile-long beach."
Ch. 9 Vision
I loved how Shubin described humans as "a mosaic of bits and pieces found in virtually everything else on the planet." It concludes his point on evolution that we, organisms, are all parts of each other, even those in the past. Shubin's use of pictures and diagrams helped me understand the importance of each part of the eye. I found out that as eyes evolve, visual acuity increases. I did not know that vertebrates and invertebrates have different types of eyes. invertebrates have tissues that fold a couple times, while vertebrates' tissues do not fold. Its amazing that the eyeless gene by Gehring can create eyes on the antennas, legs, etc, of a fly. However,it started to get me nauseous when Gehring started to switch the eyeless gene on other organisms such as a mouse with a fly gene. This switch created a mouse with fly eyes, which I find a bit disgusting. However disgusting I may find this, I can't think other than that Gehring made a major breakthrough that advanced science.
Ch 10 Ears
Its amazing that two of the ear bones in a mammal corresponds to pieces of the jaw in reptiles. The sturctures of organisms are crazy as research is further developed. For example, finding a similarity between sharks and humans is unbelievable. Its amazing how hair is an essential part of our body when all we see is it standing limp on our head and our arms and legs. What we don't clearly see is that hair in our noses catches dust from entering our body while hair in our ear makes nerve cells send an electrical impulse to the brain just by bending. I never knew that fluid in the inner ear swishes when we accelerate. When ever I am in a rollercoaster, I will try to remember the reason why I have the feeling in my ears.
Ch 11 The Meaning of it All
Although everyone are descendents from their parents and grandparents, they are not exact replicas of their ancestors. By the seventy-fifth generation, the first generation and the seventy-fifth will not look at all related. Mutations happen and different combinations occur. Like this example, humans and this generation's organisms are descendents of the first generation's organisms even though they may not look even close to this generation. This is how Shubin was able to decrease the complications of evolution into a highly understood concept.
Your Inner Fish was a very informative book, that helped me prepare for class. It was a great book and I am very thankful that Mr. Tisor assigned us this amazing book; however, I am glad it ended. I will keep in mind of Shubin's book as I further receive infromation about evolution and about our bodies. I can truthfully agree with Nature as they reviewed that "Shubin's simple, passionate writing may turn more than a few high school students into aspiring biologist."
I never thought that extracting DNA was easy. I figured it would take a team of researchers and a well equipped lab, but Shubin proved me wrong when he said that we can extract DNA in our own kitchen, with just easily accessible ingredients such as dish wash soap, water, salt, etc.
Shubin called DNA an "extraordinarily powerful window into life's history" in the first page of the chapter, but on the next page, he called DNA goop. I was shocked and amused at the same time because i figured that this chapter will be informative and boring because of the way he described DNA the first time. I was also shocked to find out that genes involved in the sense of smell was in every cell. I thought they were only in the nasal area, but i found out that the genes in the nasal area are the only ones active. Our genes are amazing. Shubin described that "some people can detect the odor molecules in a green bell pepper at a concentration of less than one part per trillion". He compared that to "picking out one grain of sand from a mile-long beach."
Ch. 9 Vision
I loved how Shubin described humans as "a mosaic of bits and pieces found in virtually everything else on the planet." It concludes his point on evolution that we, organisms, are all parts of each other, even those in the past. Shubin's use of pictures and diagrams helped me understand the importance of each part of the eye. I found out that as eyes evolve, visual acuity increases. I did not know that vertebrates and invertebrates have different types of eyes. invertebrates have tissues that fold a couple times, while vertebrates' tissues do not fold. Its amazing that the eyeless gene by Gehring can create eyes on the antennas, legs, etc, of a fly. However,it started to get me nauseous when Gehring started to switch the eyeless gene on other organisms such as a mouse with a fly gene. This switch created a mouse with fly eyes, which I find a bit disgusting. However disgusting I may find this, I can't think other than that Gehring made a major breakthrough that advanced science.
Ch 10 Ears
Its amazing that two of the ear bones in a mammal corresponds to pieces of the jaw in reptiles. The sturctures of organisms are crazy as research is further developed. For example, finding a similarity between sharks and humans is unbelievable. Its amazing how hair is an essential part of our body when all we see is it standing limp on our head and our arms and legs. What we don't clearly see is that hair in our noses catches dust from entering our body while hair in our ear makes nerve cells send an electrical impulse to the brain just by bending. I never knew that fluid in the inner ear swishes when we accelerate. When ever I am in a rollercoaster, I will try to remember the reason why I have the feeling in my ears.
Ch 11 The Meaning of it All
Although everyone are descendents from their parents and grandparents, they are not exact replicas of their ancestors. By the seventy-fifth generation, the first generation and the seventy-fifth will not look at all related. Mutations happen and different combinations occur. Like this example, humans and this generation's organisms are descendents of the first generation's organisms even though they may not look even close to this generation. This is how Shubin was able to decrease the complications of evolution into a highly understood concept.
Your Inner Fish was a very informative book, that helped me prepare for class. It was a great book and I am very thankful that Mr. Tisor assigned us this amazing book; however, I am glad it ended. I will keep in mind of Shubin's book as I further receive infromation about evolution and about our bodies. I can truthfully agree with Nature as they reviewed that "Shubin's simple, passionate writing may turn more than a few high school students into aspiring biologist."
Chapters 8-11
Chapter 8: Making Scents
In this chapter I thought it was pretty funny when he said that extracting DNA is so easy that it can be done in the kitchen. It was interesting to learn that using meat tenderizer breaks off some of the proteins that are attatched to the DNA. It amazed me of how we can decipher the history of our senses just from DNA. I never knew we could distinguish between 10,000 scents and how our brain can process them; I honestly didn't even know that there were that many scents, its crazy! The diagram of the nasal openings, made the reading more easy to understand and to see the different kinds of nasal openings for different animals.
Chapter 9: Vision
I think it was really cool how Shubin used the analogy of cars to the history of our eyes. By reading, I learned that our eyes have many tissues, and that our eyes are our own little cameras. He shows us that vision is very important to us and that in order to understand our eyes, we must understand the structures of our eyes. It was pretty amazing learning about aniridia, and about how others lacked big portions of their faces and their eyes. This chapter taught me alot about how important our vision is and the different structures and layers that our in our eyes.
Chapter 10: Ears
This chapter got me thinking about the inner ear, that controls the nerve impulses to the brain. I honestly thought that we had fluid in our ears because of when we shower or when we go swimming, but boy was I completely off. I was really surprised to find out that there is fluid in our ear is what signals our brain that our head is tilted. Now everytime I tilt my head I think about the fluid in my ears. ! I also never knew that alcohol affected our ears, i thought alcohol played a big factor to our livers, but Shubin says that the fluid in our ears begin to swirl and that makes our brain think that we are moving; and therefore, it causes us to be dizzy. This chapter out of the other chapters really interested me the most.!
Chapter 11 : The meaning of it all
In the last chapter, Shubin pretty much sums up the whole book. This chapter connects all the chapters together and basically completes the questions and thoughts I had about our body. It was interesting on how Shubin said that "every living thing on the planet had parents". I really enjoyed about reading the family trees and the descendants of our mothers and our fathers. This chapter had its funny parts, when he showed the family tree of "bozo" and how bozo descended from someone with a big nose and floppy feet. I was really amazed to learn that the top death of humans is not by accidents but due to our genetic basis. I always knew that humans were connected to animals, and that evolution has happened millions of years ago, but by reading Shubin's book, everything became real, and more clear to me. This book as a whole was really interesting and it taught me alot about our body! :)
In this chapter I thought it was pretty funny when he said that extracting DNA is so easy that it can be done in the kitchen. It was interesting to learn that using meat tenderizer breaks off some of the proteins that are attatched to the DNA. It amazed me of how we can decipher the history of our senses just from DNA. I never knew we could distinguish between 10,000 scents and how our brain can process them; I honestly didn't even know that there were that many scents, its crazy! The diagram of the nasal openings, made the reading more easy to understand and to see the different kinds of nasal openings for different animals.
Chapter 9: Vision
I think it was really cool how Shubin used the analogy of cars to the history of our eyes. By reading, I learned that our eyes have many tissues, and that our eyes are our own little cameras. He shows us that vision is very important to us and that in order to understand our eyes, we must understand the structures of our eyes. It was pretty amazing learning about aniridia, and about how others lacked big portions of their faces and their eyes. This chapter taught me alot about how important our vision is and the different structures and layers that our in our eyes.
Chapter 10: Ears
This chapter got me thinking about the inner ear, that controls the nerve impulses to the brain. I honestly thought that we had fluid in our ears because of when we shower or when we go swimming, but boy was I completely off. I was really surprised to find out that there is fluid in our ear is what signals our brain that our head is tilted. Now everytime I tilt my head I think about the fluid in my ears. ! I also never knew that alcohol affected our ears, i thought alcohol played a big factor to our livers, but Shubin says that the fluid in our ears begin to swirl and that makes our brain think that we are moving; and therefore, it causes us to be dizzy. This chapter out of the other chapters really interested me the most.!
Chapter 11 : The meaning of it all
In the last chapter, Shubin pretty much sums up the whole book. This chapter connects all the chapters together and basically completes the questions and thoughts I had about our body. It was interesting on how Shubin said that "every living thing on the planet had parents". I really enjoyed about reading the family trees and the descendants of our mothers and our fathers. This chapter had its funny parts, when he showed the family tree of "bozo" and how bozo descended from someone with a big nose and floppy feet. I was really amazed to learn that the top death of humans is not by accidents but due to our genetic basis. I always knew that humans were connected to animals, and that evolution has happened millions of years ago, but by reading Shubin's book, everything became real, and more clear to me. This book as a whole was really interesting and it taught me alot about our body! :)
Chapter Seven: Adventures in Bodybuilding
That title could have been funny if I was still a freshman, but alas its not the case. In this chapter, Shubin explained to us how our bodies formed from tiny microscopic cells, and how important those tiny cells really are. Another thing I didn't know was that cells are connected by molecules, which allow the cells to communicate with each other and make sure each other does its job for the body. He also showed how important oxygen is to the body, and the irony of the fact that our bodies form when microbes learn to consume each other. Without the skeleton, our body would be nothing but a pile of organs sitting atop each other, and the skeleton provides the blueprint to the human body. This chapter was very interesting at times, yet at other parts where he describes the hydroxyapatite, collagen, and proteoglycan levels I tended to drift off a little bit, but he still always brings me back.
Chapter 8-11
Chapter 8
Chapter eight’s title making scents had got me interested. Ay first I read the title as making sense but then after reading that chapter I realized that making sense didn’t actually make sense for that title. So then I looked back and there I saw the title making scents. I got amused in this chapter because it had helped me learn how the nose actually worked. When I read the part with how the tiktaalik’s have two nostrils I was fascinated because it never occurred to me that a awkward looking animal can have two nostrils as a human. When the chapter was about to end I read the part where Shubin said that humans rely more on sight then the sense of smell. Which was true but then I peeked at the next chapter I saw it was about sight so then I thought that Shubin is really good at ending the chapter by introducing the next chapter.
Chapter 9Chapter nine vision had also interested me because now it was about sight. From the diagram with an impel, nautilus, scallop, and human I can see that the human eye can see better. Eyes are like a camera without it we wouldn’t be able to visualize and see anything. I knew that genes make up eyes whether if they are big or small. It depends all on the genes. This chapter was not that long so I didn’t learn much from it. Most of the facts I already knew about. But im glad that it helped me learn some new thing then none at all. I cant wait until I read the next chapter. The only thing that can be left would be to hear.
Chapter 10Chapter 10’s title ear was obvious because of the two past chapters making scents and sight. Obviously ears are there for you to hear but the real thing is how do they actually work? I really got amused on how the ear has three parts to it. The inner, outer, and the middle ear which would help process that to the brain. The inner ear really helps a lot well basically it does most of the work from the three parts of the ear. It is weird how each animal’s ear part’s are different. They either have something extra added to it or it either has something taken away from it. I wanted to learn more about how fishes hear and how they use there ear. I think Shubin should have added a little more about how the ear would be used for fish for clearer understanding. This chapter didn’t actually interest me as much but then it did help me learn a lot of information. As a result the two previous chapter’s had got me interested more.
Chapter 11Chapter eleven the making of it all was the best from through out the book because it had cleared up a lot of question that I had. Although I still had some questions that I still needed help answering, well I guess I’ll ask Mr.Tisor or I probably look it up online. The diagram of the bozo family tree had taken out a chuckle in me (which was the only laugh I got out of me from this book) which was also true that each generation had some new problems but when the last generation came it got all the problems. I really liked this chapter because it had some new things that I never learned about and it had some things that I knew about but didn’t but so much pressure into for learning. As a result this book was very educational and the fist book that I read which didn’t make me fall asleep. I like how Neil Shubin wrote his book with stories and fun and interesting facts!
CHAPTERS 8-11
Chapter 8:
After reading chapter 8, I started to appreciate my olfactory senses more and stop taking them for granted. Shubin explained the process of smell by discussing that we perceive smell by inhaling odor molecules that then go to an area behind our nose where they are trapped by the mucous lining of our nasal passages. Deep within our noses is a lining of a patch of tissue that contains millions of nerves cells. The odor molecules then bind to this patch of tissue which then sends a signal to our brain which perceives these signals as smell. I was shocked to learn that there are so many mutations within our sense of smell that it knocked out many odor genes where we have multiple function less odor cells. Shubin really stunned me where he stated that we as humans traded in our sense of smell for our sense of sight. To think that we rely more on our eye sight that it started to 'deemphasized' our sense of smell that it created functionless odor cells.
Chapter 9:
Shubin used this chapter to reemphasize again the unifying theme that humans are a history of all types of animals through his explanations of vision. Shubin discussed that the shift from black and white vision to color ed vision can be traced back to the 'changes in the flora of the earth millions of years ago.' Shubin explained that colored vision can estimated to have been introduced about 55 million years ago, where before the forests had the same general color. But as time went on, the color started to diversify where more colors were introduced that forced mammals to have colored vision in order to survive. This chapter was able to show that vision is not only a necessity in every animals life, but that their natural surroundings was able to change and alter vision, and added color in order for animals to prolong their life.
Chapter 10:
The beginning of chapter 10 started off with the introduction of the three different parts of the ears: the outer, middle, and inner ear. Shubin went on to explain how the function of the ear goes about the enables each animal to hear. He was able to unify the similarities that each animals has to each other by discussing that the mammalian ear came about from the upper part of a fish jaw. The fish jaw started to shrink due to the transition from water residing animals to land walking animals. It was a very interesting to learn that parts of our ears hold the past of our transition from water to land. This fact really allowed me to see how truly connected we humans are to fish.
Chapter 11:
And finally to the last chapter. This final chapter was really the wrap to the overall theme of the connection between all different kinds of animals. Shubin begun the chapter by explaining the mechanics of genetics and also showing how specific traits are passed down from one generation to the next and how connected they all are. Shubin discussed different traits that humans acquire through their past history by explaining the difficulties humans are forced to undergo because of their past. Humans for example weren't made to be inactive and have a hard time today due to the lack of activity. In previous times humans were used going through long periods of times without food, and end up storing the fat for later. But now with different times, and fast food everywhere, humans now face different diseases such as obesity and heart attacks.
After reading chapter 8, I started to appreciate my olfactory senses more and stop taking them for granted. Shubin explained the process of smell by discussing that we perceive smell by inhaling odor molecules that then go to an area behind our nose where they are trapped by the mucous lining of our nasal passages. Deep within our noses is a lining of a patch of tissue that contains millions of nerves cells. The odor molecules then bind to this patch of tissue which then sends a signal to our brain which perceives these signals as smell. I was shocked to learn that there are so many mutations within our sense of smell that it knocked out many odor genes where we have multiple function less odor cells. Shubin really stunned me where he stated that we as humans traded in our sense of smell for our sense of sight. To think that we rely more on our eye sight that it started to 'deemphasized' our sense of smell that it created functionless odor cells.
Chapter 9:
Shubin used this chapter to reemphasize again the unifying theme that humans are a history of all types of animals through his explanations of vision. Shubin discussed that the shift from black and white vision to color ed vision can be traced back to the 'changes in the flora of the earth millions of years ago.' Shubin explained that colored vision can estimated to have been introduced about 55 million years ago, where before the forests had the same general color. But as time went on, the color started to diversify where more colors were introduced that forced mammals to have colored vision in order to survive. This chapter was able to show that vision is not only a necessity in every animals life, but that their natural surroundings was able to change and alter vision, and added color in order for animals to prolong their life.
Chapter 10:
The beginning of chapter 10 started off with the introduction of the three different parts of the ears: the outer, middle, and inner ear. Shubin went on to explain how the function of the ear goes about the enables each animal to hear. He was able to unify the similarities that each animals has to each other by discussing that the mammalian ear came about from the upper part of a fish jaw. The fish jaw started to shrink due to the transition from water residing animals to land walking animals. It was a very interesting to learn that parts of our ears hold the past of our transition from water to land. This fact really allowed me to see how truly connected we humans are to fish.
Chapter 11:
And finally to the last chapter. This final chapter was really the wrap to the overall theme of the connection between all different kinds of animals. Shubin begun the chapter by explaining the mechanics of genetics and also showing how specific traits are passed down from one generation to the next and how connected they all are. Shubin discussed different traits that humans acquire through their past history by explaining the difficulties humans are forced to undergo because of their past. Humans for example weren't made to be inactive and have a hard time today due to the lack of activity. In previous times humans were used going through long periods of times without food, and end up storing the fat for later. But now with different times, and fast food everywhere, humans now face different diseases such as obesity and heart attacks.
My last blog: Chapter 7-11
Chapter 7: The title of this chapter caught my attention and I became very eager to learn more about what Shubin had to say about our body. Shubin compares our body with a house that is coming together spontaneously from informatino from bricksa where as our bodies come together with cells. I really liked this comparison becaue it allows the readers to get a clear view of how our body is made. Shubin later in the chpater goes more in depth with how our cells and the glue that keeps them attached interact with each other and "talk" to each other, and the molecules make up our cells. Shubin explains that Precambrian literally means "before life" showing us that they too have a biological organziation as explained in chapter 6. What really cuaght my attention was when Shubin explained about the collagen and streptococcus bacteria which is common in our mouths. Shubin even goes in depth to explain that our bodies need energy to grow and collegan needs oxygen and because the oxygen level was very low for billions of years, microbes learned to eat each other.
Chapter 8: The title of this chapter was very interesting to me and extremely unique. I enjoyed reading this chapter becuase i was able to get an insight about the functions of the nose. Well, is a nose jsut an organ or something more. Without breath its claustrophobic but, to find out how the organ works was very educational. I have more respect for my body now. My memories take me back when I had experienced the Body Works exhibit and learnt about our nose. Reading this chapter has helped me connect the dots. I found it very interesting that "eacg smell is composed of many different molecules attaching to differnt receptors" and our brain perceives them as one smell. Of course, Shubin will connect our nose to the nose of a fish, and explain how smelll gets connected with tissues to later connect with neurons. The history of dormant genes in a dolphin, transition from no longer necessary to perform the function of being able to smell and are replaced by a blowhole is extremely suprising.
Chapter 9: The chapter was very self explanatory which the information presented. Shubin explains how light travels through cornear that covers our lens. Much of the process of the images happens inside the brain, the eye merely catches light. The amount of light that can enter is controlled by the iris then allowing the light to pass through tiny muscles that contract and change the lens's shape to focus. Monkey's have a very detailed kind of color vision that allows them to view different kinds of lights, however, other mammals have only a specific kind of light that their eyes are tuned to see in. I was in awe to learn that Polychaets have two kinds of sensing organs. The amazing recipe of construction of the eye helps us understand commonalities and differences in comparing species as well as gentic facts.
Chapter 10: To me learning aobut ears was not as interesting as learning about eyes, however, Shubin managed to keep me engaged throughout the chapter. I was intrigued by learning aobut mammals and their three ear bones, when Shubin explained that having this feature they are able to hear at a higher-frequency sounds where as other animals that only have one ear bone, can only hear so much. Shubin also explained that the staples is a second arch bone along with hyomandibula. There are tiny hairlike projections and specialized nerve cells inside our ear that help us perceive sound. The image of a snow globe was extermely helpful in being able to visualize the accelaration that occurs in our ears and also helps us balance. This concept was interesting to me because the whole system is connected to our eye muscles. Of course, Shubin will connect our ear to the ear of a fish, in the sense that Pax 2 is active in the head and the neuromasts.
Chapter 11: I could connect to Shubin and the fact that everything had parents. Meaning that everything derieved from somthing else and I enjoyed reading the example, that you are standing in a room filled with unknown people, how would you determine their relation. Also if you were to walk through a zoo you would find that you are in some way connected or resemble each animal there. It was extermely eye opening to learn that talking is not cheap. In the sense that human larynx is made up of mostly gill arch cartilages adn therefore our throats are very complex features in our body. I was shocked to learn that a men are more likely to get a hernia rather than women because in a female's body wallg through pregnancy and childbirth. Also the fact that diseases are bacteria was really something different to me, but it made sense through the exsistence of mitrochondria in our cells. This book has truely been very educational and interesting to learn from. At first, I was uncertain how Shubin will be able to connect our human body to a fish, but as I read the book I was able to learn.
Chapter 8: The title of this chapter was very interesting to me and extremely unique. I enjoyed reading this chapter becuase i was able to get an insight about the functions of the nose. Well, is a nose jsut an organ or something more. Without breath its claustrophobic but, to find out how the organ works was very educational. I have more respect for my body now. My memories take me back when I had experienced the Body Works exhibit and learnt about our nose. Reading this chapter has helped me connect the dots. I found it very interesting that "eacg smell is composed of many different molecules attaching to differnt receptors" and our brain perceives them as one smell. Of course, Shubin will connect our nose to the nose of a fish, and explain how smelll gets connected with tissues to later connect with neurons. The history of dormant genes in a dolphin, transition from no longer necessary to perform the function of being able to smell and are replaced by a blowhole is extremely suprising.
Chapter 9: The chapter was very self explanatory which the information presented. Shubin explains how light travels through cornear that covers our lens. Much of the process of the images happens inside the brain, the eye merely catches light. The amount of light that can enter is controlled by the iris then allowing the light to pass through tiny muscles that contract and change the lens's shape to focus. Monkey's have a very detailed kind of color vision that allows them to view different kinds of lights, however, other mammals have only a specific kind of light that their eyes are tuned to see in. I was in awe to learn that Polychaets have two kinds of sensing organs. The amazing recipe of construction of the eye helps us understand commonalities and differences in comparing species as well as gentic facts.
Chapter 10: To me learning aobut ears was not as interesting as learning about eyes, however, Shubin managed to keep me engaged throughout the chapter. I was intrigued by learning aobut mammals and their three ear bones, when Shubin explained that having this feature they are able to hear at a higher-frequency sounds where as other animals that only have one ear bone, can only hear so much. Shubin also explained that the staples is a second arch bone along with hyomandibula. There are tiny hairlike projections and specialized nerve cells inside our ear that help us perceive sound. The image of a snow globe was extermely helpful in being able to visualize the accelaration that occurs in our ears and also helps us balance. This concept was interesting to me because the whole system is connected to our eye muscles. Of course, Shubin will connect our ear to the ear of a fish, in the sense that Pax 2 is active in the head and the neuromasts.
Chapter 11: I could connect to Shubin and the fact that everything had parents. Meaning that everything derieved from somthing else and I enjoyed reading the example, that you are standing in a room filled with unknown people, how would you determine their relation. Also if you were to walk through a zoo you would find that you are in some way connected or resemble each animal there. It was extermely eye opening to learn that talking is not cheap. In the sense that human larynx is made up of mostly gill arch cartilages adn therefore our throats are very complex features in our body. I was shocked to learn that a men are more likely to get a hernia rather than women because in a female's body wallg through pregnancy and childbirth. Also the fact that diseases are bacteria was really something different to me, but it made sense through the exsistence of mitrochondria in our cells. This book has truely been very educational and interesting to learn from. At first, I was uncertain how Shubin will be able to connect our human body to a fish, but as I read the book I was able to learn.
chapter 8,9,10,and 11
Chapter 8
In this chapter, Shubin mostly talks about scents and how it can affect us. I never knew that odors can impulse our brains to change how we perceive the world and how it change help us survive! It is amazing how we can distinguish between 10,000 scents and that our brain can distribute each smell to a different feeling or memory. As always, the diagram helps me understand what the author is talking about more easily. I also learned that our fish ancestors also had eternal and internal nostrils. Its amazing how our noses are witnesses to our past.
Chapter 9
Chapter 9 was all about vision and how the structure of our eyes work. I never knew that the processing of images we see were actually happening in our brains; all the eyes do are just capturing light. Every creature with a skull have common eyes, from fish to mammal. The connections he made through different species eyes was incredible.
Chapter 10
This chapter explains to the readers about the structure of our ears. I was able to learn the three different parts, the external, middle, and internal. Its amazing how the ear receives sound waves and what we hear are words. It was amusing when Shubin described to imagine stuff flying around in your head at a concert. I never knew about the three ear bone and how it can relate us, human, to reptiles and amphibians. The diagrams, again, helped me clearly see what Shubin was talking about. It was also interesting how our ears are connected to our balance and so it affects our sound position or acceleration. When we bend our head, the gel inside swishes!This all reflects to ho we connect to primitive creatures like the stinging box jellyfish.
Chapter 11
Ah, finally, the last chapter. It kind of felt like a summary of everything that Shubin talked about throughout the book. However, i still learned new information. I learned that were all modified versions of our past parents.What we previous learned was all touched upon again and helped us understand a bigger idea of evolution. Lastly, he talked about the history of what makes us sick. And the "thrifty genotype" hypothesis came out. It was amazing to read this book and learn what evolution is and how we can see it more clearly through better explanations. Your inner fish really boosted my knowledge about our past and how our body works.
Chapters 8-11
In chapter 8, Shubin talks about human and animal's scent and how it is like a baffle. For example, every chemical we scent has an exclusive shape and synthetic attributes. In our smelling organ, we have this enzyme in the cells of our nose that matches the chemical completely. However, what I found interesting as I was reading through this chapter was the behavior of the animals. Fish can only sense the proteins in the water, mammals can sense the proteins in air, while amphibians can sense the proteins underwater or in air. This was quite interesting to me because I never knew that in the inner part of our nose can recognize approximately 10,000 extraordinary fragrance. Overall, this chapter was quite inspirational.
In chapter 9, Shubin talks about the vision and how we can see. The brain interprets and annotates the pattern of nerve authorizations into what we think of as a representation. One part that caught my attention were the fruit flies and how they were born with eyes on their legs which allows them to act in response to light and that they're not linked to the nervous system. As I read about fruit flies and about their special effects, it was pretty amazing.
In chapter 10, Shubin talks about ears. I really like the fact how Shubin provides examples of hearing regarding of talking about sharks. For example, when you spot a shark eating another type of fish smaller than them, the shark probably heard and sensed the water flowing as the little fish swam by. Therefore, a shark can sense the fish like as if an individual can sense the changes and alterations around the surroundings.
In chapter 11, like what the title says, this chapter basically covers up all of the significance and the importance from the rest of the book. I learned more about the particular aspects of evolution. Because I already knew some basic evolution belief or theory, learning about how us, as an individual human being and how we are specifically related to a certain animal quite amazes me and helped me get a better understanding of the evolution theory. Indeed, I really enjoyed reading this scientific, adventurous book which was very inspirational and educational, yet entertaining.
In chapter 9, Shubin talks about the vision and how we can see. The brain interprets and annotates the pattern of nerve authorizations into what we think of as a representation. One part that caught my attention were the fruit flies and how they were born with eyes on their legs which allows them to act in response to light and that they're not linked to the nervous system. As I read about fruit flies and about their special effects, it was pretty amazing.
In chapter 10, Shubin talks about ears. I really like the fact how Shubin provides examples of hearing regarding of talking about sharks. For example, when you spot a shark eating another type of fish smaller than them, the shark probably heard and sensed the water flowing as the little fish swam by. Therefore, a shark can sense the fish like as if an individual can sense the changes and alterations around the surroundings.
In chapter 11, like what the title says, this chapter basically covers up all of the significance and the importance from the rest of the book. I learned more about the particular aspects of evolution. Because I already knew some basic evolution belief or theory, learning about how us, as an individual human being and how we are specifically related to a certain animal quite amazes me and helped me get a better understanding of the evolution theory. Indeed, I really enjoyed reading this scientific, adventurous book which was very inspirational and educational, yet entertaining.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11
Chapter 8:
In this chapter, Shubin explained how by extracting DNA from any tissue of a living thing, many details about that particular specie's history is revealed, including the sense of smell. It fascinated me how in the beginning of the chapter, he explained how anyone can extract DNA in his or her's own kitchen with little effort and time, and be amazed. For a minute, I thought about going in my kitchen and actually trying out that, but decided to get a group of friends and try it - to see if it really does work. Shubin, also compares the analogy of smell to a chord, and how, like a chord, receptors and molecules work together to create an odor. Lastly, what fascinated me in this chapter was how many genes in human bodies are present, but remain silent and can be no longer used by a body.
Chapter 9:
Shubin talked about how essential vision is for every living organism. It was easy for me to understand this chapter because he broke it down into three sections: light-gathering molecules, tissues, and genes. One detail that struck me was how he compared the molecule in vertebrate eyes, opsin, to bacteria and ultimately stated that "modified bits of ancient bacteria lie inside our retina, helping us see" (153). Shubin also explained how there are invertebrates that are a living bridge between invertebrate eyes and vertebrate eyes because they consist of both kind of eyes - such as the Polychaetes that have our kind of eyes in a primitive form.
Chapter 10:
Chapter ten started off with talking about the external ear, then talking about he middle ear, and finally ending with the inner ear. The external ear, Shubin explained, is a recently new addition and is only found in mammals. Though some amphibians and reptiles have ears that can be seen, they lack pinna (the projecting of an ear lying on the outside). Shubin then talked about the middle ear and the three bones: malleus, incus, and stapes. While explaining the three bones, Shubin remarks that the jaw of a reptile is transformed to two ear bones (malleus and incus). This happened when the jaws of reptiles slowly started becoming smaller and eventually mammals evolved and the gill arches of the reptiles (in their jaws) became the gill arches of mammals (in their ears). Lastly, Shubin talked about the inner ear, which has many functions, including allowing us to hear, telling us which way our head is tilted, and recording how quickly our head is moving or tilting. The inner ear is fascinating as it reveals so much about the similarity between human ears and eyes.
Chapter ten started off with talking about the external ear, then talking about the middle ear, and finally ending with the inner ear. The external ear, Shubin explained, is a recently new addition and is only found in mammals. Though some amphibians and reptiles have ears that can be seen, they have no pinna (the projecting part of an ear lying outside). Shubin then talks about the middle ear and the three bones: malleus, incus, and stapes. While explaining the three bones, Shubin remarks that the jaw of a reptile transformed to two ear bones (malleus and incus). This happened when the jaws of reptiles slowly started becoming smaller and eventually mammals evolved and the gill arches of the reptiles (in their jaws) became the gill arches of mammals ( in their ears). Lastly, Shubin talked about the inner ear, which has many functions, including allowing us to hear, telling us which was our head is tilted, and lastly in recording how quickly our head is moving or tilting. The inner ear is fascinating as it reveals so much about how human ears and eyes are extremely similar, connected, and work together.
Chapter 11:
Lastly, in chapter eleven, Shubin summed up his points and revealed why he believes that there is an "inner fish" lying within all of us. It was interesting to see how Shubin actually connected all of his chapters in this chapter and showed that mammals are all descendants with modifications. The bozo family tree, personally, helped me see how each descendant is modified from the past and is somehow better. Also, the humans-polar bears- turtles- fish connection revealed that they are a deciphering family tree and have a pattern of relativity. Shubin compares groupings based on "hundreds of genetic, embryological, and anatomical features" (183) to peeling an onion, exposing layer after layer of history - starting with the basic features of fishes and ending with microbial bacteria. Shubin also stated that humans constantly get sick (heart diseases, strokes, obesity, etc.) because our ancestors weren't built to be able to sit for countless hours on a couch, run and walk for tremendous periods of time, or talk, think, and grasp. For this reason, humans and other organisms are to be flawed one way or another.
All in all, this book proved to be quite interesting and delighting in many chapters, but also dull and repetitive in some. It definitely renewed my interest and questioned my beliefs on evolution.
Sorry this seems as it is late, but I was trying to post this from 11:30 but it wouldn't show my chapter 9 and 10 postings, only chapters 8 and 11, as you can see below.
CH. 8, 9, 10, & 11
Finishing the rest of the book definitely involved cramming much information into my head. However, when I began digesting all of the facts given, I began to realize that everything covered in Your Inner Fish, from the beginning to the end, the main idea has been that the human structure, almost every single part of it, could be traced to many different animals and creatures as well. Those connections are what allow us to discover what the earliest beings that lived on this planet may have been like, as well as any other life forms that have existed. Our ability to smell, see, and hear, is pretty much the same for all other animals, except for slightly different quirks in how we obtain those senses specifically. It was fascinating to read about all of the slightest little details that gift us with the ability to absorb our surroundings in many ways, and that without a tiniest little part, we may not be able to function a specific sense correctly.
The final chapter truly hit the spot in summing up the whole book. I really liked how he described our whole entire body as a zoo with all the different functions being a part of it. Up to the very end, Shubin continuously and consistently related us as people to a fish, in that if we were to trace our ancestors back far enough, we are bound to find similarities, its just that along the lineage line, the genetic makeup would change here and there until eventually, we may seem completely different to others. It was quite an experience reading through this novel throughout the summer. I have a new outlook on life now, especially when seeing other creatures, instead just seeing them as something existing on the same Earth as me, they have instead become something that is like me physically, just different looking.
The final chapter truly hit the spot in summing up the whole book. I really liked how he described our whole entire body as a zoo with all the different functions being a part of it. Up to the very end, Shubin continuously and consistently related us as people to a fish, in that if we were to trace our ancestors back far enough, we are bound to find similarities, its just that along the lineage line, the genetic makeup would change here and there until eventually, we may seem completely different to others. It was quite an experience reading through this novel throughout the summer. I have a new outlook on life now, especially when seeing other creatures, instead just seeing them as something existing on the same Earth as me, they have instead become something that is like me physically, just different looking.
Chapters 8-11
Chapter 8
Shubin discusses our noses' role and the way that smell is transferred to the brain and deciphered as different odors. I liked that Shubin compared smell to a chord, showing that odor is the product of signals from lots of receptors keyed to different odor molecules. I found it interesting when he mentioned that our sense of smell shows our history as amphibians, mammals, and fish. I didn't realize that our noses are witnesses to our past and the animals we originate from.
Chapter 9
When Shubin started talking about the structure of our eyes in the beginning of the chapter, I wondered how eyes could be preserved as fossils. However, he explains that we must understand the relationship between different structures of eyes in order to understand the history of our eyes. I found it very interesting that Shubin and other scientists studied the molecules that gathered light, different tissues that are used to see, and the genes that comprise of the eye.
Chapter 10
Shubin starts off this chapter breaking the ear down into three parts; external, middle, and internal. He mentions the three bones that consist of the middle ear, and explained how they showed how mammals and reptiiles are related. I liked the diagrams that Shubin provided to show the transformation from fish to amphibian, amphibian to reptile, and finally, reptile to mammals. I thought it was interesting when Shubin mentioned the fluid-filled sacs located in our inner ears because I didn't realize that they could tell the brain what was happening to our bodies. It was good to see that this structure could be seen on the skin of underdeveloped fish. This reflection made a connection between humans and primitive life forms.
Chapter 11
Shubin mentions the law describing how every organism has parents. He also states that we are all modified versions and that this descent of modification can show how we connect to the rest of life. I was able to understand why Shubin wanted to decipher these lineages, and why he felt that a pattern could be discovered. I felt that this chapter was a very effective way for Shubin to sum up all that he discussed and shared in the previous chapters, and I liked to see how everything fit together in the end. Shubin also goes on to talk about different diseases that humans suffer and endure, and how they are somewhat related to our past. Overall, Shubin shares many discoveries with his readers, showing that our history can be studied in order to help us live healthier and longer lives in the future. I feel lucky to have learned so much throught this amazing journey that I have been a part of.
Shubin discusses our noses' role and the way that smell is transferred to the brain and deciphered as different odors. I liked that Shubin compared smell to a chord, showing that odor is the product of signals from lots of receptors keyed to different odor molecules. I found it interesting when he mentioned that our sense of smell shows our history as amphibians, mammals, and fish. I didn't realize that our noses are witnesses to our past and the animals we originate from.
Chapter 9
When Shubin started talking about the structure of our eyes in the beginning of the chapter, I wondered how eyes could be preserved as fossils. However, he explains that we must understand the relationship between different structures of eyes in order to understand the history of our eyes. I found it very interesting that Shubin and other scientists studied the molecules that gathered light, different tissues that are used to see, and the genes that comprise of the eye.
Chapter 10
Shubin starts off this chapter breaking the ear down into three parts; external, middle, and internal. He mentions the three bones that consist of the middle ear, and explained how they showed how mammals and reptiiles are related. I liked the diagrams that Shubin provided to show the transformation from fish to amphibian, amphibian to reptile, and finally, reptile to mammals. I thought it was interesting when Shubin mentioned the fluid-filled sacs located in our inner ears because I didn't realize that they could tell the brain what was happening to our bodies. It was good to see that this structure could be seen on the skin of underdeveloped fish. This reflection made a connection between humans and primitive life forms.
Chapter 11
Shubin mentions the law describing how every organism has parents. He also states that we are all modified versions and that this descent of modification can show how we connect to the rest of life. I was able to understand why Shubin wanted to decipher these lineages, and why he felt that a pattern could be discovered. I felt that this chapter was a very effective way for Shubin to sum up all that he discussed and shared in the previous chapters, and I liked to see how everything fit together in the end. Shubin also goes on to talk about different diseases that humans suffer and endure, and how they are somewhat related to our past. Overall, Shubin shares many discoveries with his readers, showing that our history can be studied in order to help us live healthier and longer lives in the future. I feel lucky to have learned so much throught this amazing journey that I have been a part of.
chapter 8
The title gave away that the chapter would be something about smell. Before reading, I took a moment to think...what do I enjoy smelling? What are scents used for? Do smells trigger certain things in my primal nature? The sense of smell is so much more than that though. It's one of our five major survival tools to survive. Smell helps us "prey" upon our diet, live our life, and surfaces memories associated with that smell. The thing that really tripped me out was that fishes can smell INSIDE THE OCEAN. I thought since there was water...how can scents be down there? But fishes have a small cavity inside their head to enable them to do that. Evolution...what can you say. It's an amazing thing.
ch 9
I've always wondered how did eyes evolve...because eyes are sort of liquid like and they don't survive fossils. They leave just a whole in the skull or whatever the animal had. But of course evolution had a way of explaining it. There's a whole process to vision. Light has to be captured then processed to the brain to become an image. I thought you just look at things and boom, there it pops up. But science has a way of proofing all of our bodily functions.
Chapters 8 - 11
Chapter 8: Making Scents
Again with the stories.... Shubin beat the odds against DNA testing machines and is still digging dirt :) woo-hoo!!! But really without still being able to do such things we wouldn't be reading such a thought-provoking book. Interesting side note fact I didn't know that although only active in the nasal area, smell cells are in all the areas of our body, I liked Shubin's simplistic analogy of the lock and key method in regards to the odor and the nerve receptor. It is Shubin's ability to simplify the complex concepts that make this book both intriguing yet still learning tool. I loved seeing Shubin tie in scents with the fish; I thought we might have lost that for a while? When we think about it a lot of our time does go into smelling the things around so in turn, I think to learn about scents is beneficial.
Chapter 9: Vision
Imagine that, a lot of the processing for your sight and such happens in the brain. Go Figure! And may I just say the diagram depicted in this chapter was extremely helpful in seeing the effects of eyes coming into focus. Light-changing molecules are impressive they change shape, recharge in the dark, and are the epitome of your seeing ability.
Chapter 10: Ears
Well, it's only fair to say that with the ear chapter we will learn more about how the sound and organisms necessary in this aspect of our body's duties. Think as fish to humans we went from gills to arches to our ears and that evolution has lead to diversity and abundant amount of species. The most interesting part to know however was that the device on our body that allows one to hear what is said around them comes from no other then the jelly fish. Although the ear organ system is controlled by multiple genes the function it serves is crucial and yet not at all new.
Chapter 11: The Meaning of it All
This was the chapter I have been waiting for! Well I will be the first to say, this book took me by great surprise. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it at all in fact I was dreading having to read it at all. Yet after the first chapter, Shubin's first personal experience story, I was hooked. You go into reading it thinking it's impossible there is no way I am the relative of a fish and yet you're proved completely wrong. This book taught me so many things about how the our bodies work and what goes on under the surface. The chapter when we looked into the brain had to be my favorite part because it just left you knowing a zillion times more information then you would even think to understand.
hahaha... all in all it was a great read!!! and I'm ready for bio :)) I hope
Again with the stories.... Shubin beat the odds against DNA testing machines and is still digging dirt :) woo-hoo!!! But really without still being able to do such things we wouldn't be reading such a thought-provoking book. Interesting side note fact I didn't know that although only active in the nasal area, smell cells are in all the areas of our body, I liked Shubin's simplistic analogy of the lock and key method in regards to the odor and the nerve receptor. It is Shubin's ability to simplify the complex concepts that make this book both intriguing yet still learning tool. I loved seeing Shubin tie in scents with the fish; I thought we might have lost that for a while? When we think about it a lot of our time does go into smelling the things around so in turn, I think to learn about scents is beneficial.
Chapter 9: Vision
Imagine that, a lot of the processing for your sight and such happens in the brain. Go Figure! And may I just say the diagram depicted in this chapter was extremely helpful in seeing the effects of eyes coming into focus. Light-changing molecules are impressive they change shape, recharge in the dark, and are the epitome of your seeing ability.
Chapter 10: Ears
Well, it's only fair to say that with the ear chapter we will learn more about how the sound and organisms necessary in this aspect of our body's duties. Think as fish to humans we went from gills to arches to our ears and that evolution has lead to diversity and abundant amount of species. The most interesting part to know however was that the device on our body that allows one to hear what is said around them comes from no other then the jelly fish. Although the ear organ system is controlled by multiple genes the function it serves is crucial and yet not at all new.
Chapter 11: The Meaning of it All
This was the chapter I have been waiting for! Well I will be the first to say, this book took me by great surprise. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it at all in fact I was dreading having to read it at all. Yet after the first chapter, Shubin's first personal experience story, I was hooked. You go into reading it thinking it's impossible there is no way I am the relative of a fish and yet you're proved completely wrong. This book taught me so many things about how the our bodies work and what goes on under the surface. The chapter when we looked into the brain had to be my favorite part because it just left you knowing a zillion times more information then you would even think to understand.
hahaha... all in all it was a great read!!! and I'm ready for bio :)) I hope
Chapter 8,9, 10, and 11
Chapter 8: Making Scents
I think it was really cool how Shubin compared smell to music and chords. It makes such a complex issue more condense and easily follow-able. In this chapter Shubin talks about how humans are related to ancient fish through smell and how the same fishes that have arms and legs also had internal and external nostrils. Shubin also talks about how jaw less fish reveal that they have a small number of odor genes. A bigger discovery that Shubin explains in this chapter is that in oceanic mammals such as dolphins they use their nostrils not for smelling, but for breathing and that over time it slowly developed into smelling.
Chapter 9: Vision
Shubin right off the backs brings the readers engaged into the passage. When he is talking about his only experience with an ancient eye it makes the readers feel as though they want to find an ancient eye also. It is also brought up by Shubin that the eyes rarely are preserved in ancient bones, but rather stronger bones such as teeth or scales survive to be seen. I have been noticing that Shubin relates many of the subjects in the chapters to common, every day items, things that can be relatable to everyone, not just scientists. When Shubin is talking about our camera eyes, I would have been lost without the picture on the other page. The information is interesting, just a lot to comprehend for me without any visuals. Shubin brings up a surprising information when he talks about how we can thank bacteria for opsins.
Chapter 10: Ears
In this chapter Shubin talks about ears and how many animals do not have external ears like humans. He then goes on about how our ears are deprived from gill arches from fish. Humans and sharks are also similar in the aspect that human ears are related and similar to their upper jaw. Both perform the same functions as the other. It is cool when Shubin talks about when a person tilts their head the brain receives signals informing the body that the body is tilted. It is almost as if the ears were trying to save the person from injury. It is interesting the way that Shubin illustrates the three different parts of the ear and their association to all parts of different fishes.
Chapter 11: The Meaning of it All
In this chapter Shubin sums up all of the previous chapters. This chapter really goes into everything as a whole and doesn't just talk about the single chapters, but all the chapters as a whole. My favorite part of the whole chapter was the "law of everything" because it talks about what many people always say, yet no one hears. Everything has a parent, and everything is connected. It somewhat makes everything seems small and ordinary when it is said though. It was funny when Shubin was talking about the clown mutations and how each mutation formed into the next generation and the next. This chapter also emphasizes family trees and evolution. Shubin really makes it his point in order to show the people how things progress in life and how everything starts somewhere. Shubin seems a little depressing when he states that everything we are comes with a price. It makes our evolution seem somewhat of a fraud or a theft from our ancestors.
Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11
Chapter 8:
In this chapter, Shubin explained how by extracting DNA from any tissue of a living thing, many details about that particular specie's history is revealed, including the sense of smell. It fascinated me how in the beginning of the chapter, he explained how anyone can extract DNA in his or her's own kitchen with little effort and time, and be amazed. For a minute, I thought about going in my kitchen and actually trying out that, but decided to get a group of friends and try it - to see if it really does work. Shubin, also compares the analogy of smell to a chord, and how, like a chord, receptors and molecules work together to create an odor. Lastly, what fascinated me in this chapter was how many genes in human bodies are present, but remain silent and can be no longer used by a body.
Chapter 9:
Shubin talked about how essential vision is for every living organism. It was easy for me to understand this chapter because he broke it down into three sections: light-gathering molecules, tissues, and genes. One detail that struck me was how he compared the molecule in vertebrate eyes, opsin, to bacteria and ultimately stated that "modified bits of ancient bacteria lie inside our retina, helping us see" (153). Shubin also explained how there are invertebrates that are a living bridge between invertebrate eyes and vertebrate eyes because they consist of both kinds of eyes- such as the Polychaetes that have our kind of eyes in a primitive form.
Chapter 10:
Chapter ten started off with talking about the external ear, then talking about the middle ear, and finally ending with the inner ear. The external ear, Shubin explained, is a recently new addition and is only found in mammals. Though some amphibians and reptiles have ears that can be seen, they have no pinna (the projecting part of an ear lying outside). Shubin then talks about the middle ear and the three bones: malleus, incus, and stapes. While explaining the three bones, Shubin remarks that the jaw of a reptile transformed to two ear bones (malleus and incus). This happened when the jaws of reptiles slowly started becoming smaller and eventually mammals evolved and the gill arches of the reptiles (in their jaws) became the gill arches of mammals ( in their ears). Lastly, Shubin talked about the inner ear, which has many functions, including allowing us to hear, telling us which was our head is tilted, and lastly in recording how quickly our head is moving or tilting. The inner ear is fascinating as it reveals so much about how human ears and eyes are extremely similar, connected, and work together.
Chapter 11:
Lastly, in chapter eleven, Shubin summed up his points and revealed why he believes that there is an "inner fish" lying within all of us. It was interesting to see how Shubin actually connected all of his chapters in this chapter and showed that mammals are all descendants with modifications. The bozo family tree, personally, helped me see how each descendant is modified from the past and is somehow better. Also, the humans-polar bears- turtles- fish connection revealed that they are a deciphering family tree and have a pattern of relativity. Shubin compares groupings based on "hundreds of genetic, embryological, and anatomical features" (183) to peeling an onion, exposing layer after layer of history - starting with the basic features of fishes and ending with microbial bacteria. Shubin also stated that humans constantly get sick (heart diseases, strokes, obesity, etc.) because our ancestors weren't built to be able to sit for countless hours on a couch, run and walk for tremendous periods of time, or talk, think, and grasp. For this reason, humans and other organisms are to be flawed one way or another.
All in all, this book proved to be quite interesting and delighting in many chapters, but also dull and repetitive in some. It definitely renewed my interest and questioned my beliefs on evolution.
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