The biblical passage, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return,” is a poignant reminder of our fragile place in the world. It also reminds us how deeply we are connected to the earth, the water, the air and to the other creatures who roam the land. Neil Shubin’s The Universe Within is a further reminder of this critical relationship.
At a time when we pay increasing attention to the effects of our actions on the planet, The Universe Within also reveals how the universe has had a huge impact on the development of the human race. For example, many scientists believe that our universe was created by the Big Bang. Shubin writes that atoms from the Big Bang can be found in our air, our water and inside of us, as a sort of recycling process for the ages. “The particles that make us,” Shubin writes, “have traveled billions of years across the universe; long after we and our planet are gone, they will be a part of other worlds.”
Once Shubin establishes his thesis that we humans and our universe are made of the same tiny particles, it’s easy to accept his arguments for how we are connected in other ways. Consider that humans are made up mostly of water, which also covers most of our earth; or look at Shubin’s illustration of the strong likenesses even among wildly diverse creatures, such as the strikingly similar shapes of the leg bones of an elephant and a mouse.
The Universe Within gives us an appreciation of how we are just small specks and small moments in time. But it also challenges us to take steps to protect our environment so our world can last a little longer.
Copyright 2012 BookPage Reviews.A University of Chicago paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, Shubin discovered the fossilized Tiktaalik roseae ("a mosaic of primitive fish and derived amphibian"); his best-selling Your Inner Fish parallels human anatomy with the structures of the fish that first wriggled landward. Here he goes one step further, explaining how the universe's 14-billion-year history is reflected in our very bodies. With a 100,000-copy first printing and a ten-city tour.
[Page 55]. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Rocks (which reside firmly in the camp of the inanimate) are unlikely to be the first things that come to mind when thinking about the history of humanity or the evolution of living creatures. Yet rocks, namely fossils, provide the evidence necessary to understand, and sometimes bridge, missing links in science. Shubin (The Universe Within) studies here the emerging interdisciplinary fields of expeditionary paleontology and developmental genetics. His work connects the dots between important fossil discoveries and what they tell scientists about the evolution of life through the ages. His book is part travelog--describing his experiences gathering fossils in remote areas across the globe, and part scientific exposition--skillfully tying together seemingly disparate facts. VERDICT The author's enthusiasm for his profession, especially the more harrowing aspects of fieldwork, is infectious, and he does an excellent job of showing the heart-pounding excitement of making new scientific discoveries. Readers will never think about rocks the same way again.--Marianne Stowell Bracke, Purdue Univ. Lib., West Lafayette, IN
[Page 118]. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.University of Chicago paleontologist Shubin wrote about the fishy origins of humanity in 2009's Your Inner Fish. In his new book, he goes farther back and further out, explaining how humans bear the markings of cosmic phenomena; as he puts it, "Written inside us is the birth of the stars." Here, the author surveys everything from glints in "Greenlandic rocks" to the spreading signs of supernovae to reveal "deep ties to the forces that shaped our bodies." He demonstrates how mammals owe their "high-energy lifestyle" to oxygen released hundreds of millions of years ago as continents spread apart, and how color vision arose after continental drift cooled the planet, diversified flora, and resulted in biological competition that favored those organisms who could identify nutritious plants according to hue ("Every time you admire a richly colorful view, you can thank India for slamming into Asia"). Shubin is a leading proponent of the fusion of paleontology, developmental genetics, and genomics, and the result of his efforts is a volume of truly inspired science writing. Appropriately vast in scope, Shubin deftly balances breadth and depth in his search for a "sublimely beautiful truth." Photos & illus. Agent: Katinka Matson, John Brockman, Max Brockman, and Russell Weinberger, Brockman Inc. (Jan.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2012 PWxyz LLC