Customer Reviews

Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form

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From heads to toes, we are all remarkable creatures, even if regarded superficially. Regarding bodies superficially, but in whimsical depth, is the purpose of _Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form_ (Viking) by Michael Sims. While he may make a brief foray down the mouth or into the ears, Sims has left the innards pretty much alone. Instead, he has gone on a head-to-toe journey, scribbling down historical, etymological, literary, and physiological nuggets connected to all the external body parts. The book is a miscellany; other than the deliberate southwards theme, there is little unity, but that doesn't matter. Sims is a journalist on scientific and cultural matters (the science here is definitely science light, in keeping with the fun of the volume), and he has amassed a huge amount of information, even if it reflects a quirky selection. The overall topic is inherently interesting, and the digressions themselves are full of facts.

For instance, after regarding the face, its relative hairlessness, the thirty-six ways of moving the eyes, and the way faces are inherited as shown by the photos of your ancestors on the mantel, Sims treats us to pages about the Face on Mars. What this silly case, and all the other faces-in-the randomness manifestations, show is that we are evolutionarily programmed to see faces even if they aren't faces. Not only do newborns know to fix their gaze on faces (thereby getting attention from the more competent humans around them), but predators such as ourselves are better off mistakenly making a snap judgement "Hey, there's a face!" and then sheepishly refining the assessment if it really isn't one. Sims's discussion of the eye includes binocular vision, the fashion appeal of sunglasses, and Medusa who could turn to stone anyone who looked into her eyes. It winds up with "the argument from design," famously expressed by William Paley in 1802, and demolished by evolution since then. Darwin himself was troubled by the complexity of the eye, and (as befits a good theoretician) he accepted that this could be taken as an argument against natural selection. These worries proved groundless, as biologists learned of the connections between primitive eyes (like those in flatworms) and complicated ones like our own. As befits the book's title, there is plenty here about navels. A professor of physics, Karl Kruszelnicki, has solved the longstanding mystery of why so much fluff gets in them (and he was awarded an IgNobel prize by the science humor magazine _The Annals of Improbable Research_). Kruszelnicki did a year-long, self-funded study of various navels, shaved and unshaved, to confirm "... his theory that abdominal hairs serve as a conveyor belt for transporting fibers upward from underwear."

It is really impossible to summarize the contents of a volume like this whose every chapter is packed with factual amusements. Read here about the agonizing lip problems of Louis Armstrong. Learn why Barbie's breasts have resulted in a fatwa against her from Kuwait. Reflect that lexicographer Samuel Johnson refused to put terms for private parts into his dictionary, and now "johnson" is widely accepted as slang for "penis" (resulting in the witty chapter title "Boswell's Johnson," having to do with, among other things, the sexual adventures of Johnson's biographer.) Consider why the male figure on the plaque carried through the universe by Pioneer 10 has a penis, but the female has no vulva. Learn how the French do not French kiss, but instead Italian kiss. Any fan of trivia, presented with an eye to fun rather than strictly to erudition, will learn plenty here, and laugh (often in self-recognition) many times besides.

Like other Americans my age, I grew up in a time when certain body parts were rarely discussed, and if they were there were made up euphemisms to cover their basic ugliness. The actions of such body parts were also taboo. In fact nobody ever went to the bathroom or shared a bed on early television, even if married! As a child I wondered if such grand people as the President of the United States actually used the bathroom at all except to bathe! The toilet was a little mentioned, though necessary fixture.

Times have changed (some would say for the worst!) and I, for one, find it refreshing to have the WHOLE BODY examined in "Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form," by Michael Sims. While numerous books have appeared on this and related subjects in recent years, Sims has contributed by given us a solid popular overview. His accounts of the biology and lore of the hair, head, face, eyes, nose, lips, ears, arms, hands, breasts, navels, genitalia, and legs make fascinating reading.

Certainly, despite the more open climate, prudery has not left us. We still live in times when an Attorney General is afraid to appear in the same photograph as a statue of Justice with a naked breast! This incident led to numerous jokes and did little to improve the image of the office!

If you are interested in the external human body (probably most everybody as we are "owners" and "operators" of the same) you will find numerous anecdotes, facts and fables relating to our intimate selves.

Wowsers. This book is chock full of information--cultural, biological, historical, literary--pertaining to the human body. Sims has done a masterful job of research; this book springs to life with allegories, allusions and myths, each connected to a particular part of the body. Though not as humorous as Mary Roach's marvelous paean to the cadaver, _Stiff_, this book proves to be just as interesting. If your interest is piqued by the body human, you must read this book. Sims goes much further than what you would find on NOVA--for instance, he addresses the purpose of eyebrows and why Bram Stoker's Dracula presents the true embodiment of evil. You'll sail through this book; although it can be a bit viscous, with perseverance, the reader will learn myriad factoids. It is well written, thoroughly researched and will refocus the reader on the miracle that is the human form.

After reading the first few paragraphs of Michael Sims' "Adam's Navel," I was delighted by the tone and style, which immediately reminded me of many of Diane Ackerman's books, e.g., "A Natural History of the Senses." Sims intelligently and cleverly describes the written and unwritten histories of external body parts (leaving the internals, speculatively, for another text). From head to toe, Sims provides biological, cultural, and psychological tales about the body that makes one step back, rethink, and even delight in the body as a functional yet artistic form.

Right down to the Julian Opie image on the front (certain versions), I thought this book delivered totally.

There are some amazing facts here, interwoven with modern relevance and an engaging writing style.It's pop-science but that's fine by me.
Well done

This book attempts to explain longstanding anecdotes on parts of
the human body-their origin, function and meaning. The history
of the handshake is explained. The integration of hand movements and language has an interconnection according to the author.
The nose is cited as a part of the body which gets the least
respect as body parts go. The purity of breasts is extolled in
pop art. Overall, the book is a celebration of the human body.
A criticism is that it seems to lack a unifying theme or purpose.
It is unique in that the information content is out-of-the-
ordinary. The author even has a passage describing the arrid
landscape on the Marsian planet. The author experiments with
a bold escape from conventional writing themes in favor of
amorphous theoretical concepts not subject to exact quantification.

The item that I purchased was for my son's class in High School. The product came in excellent condition. I saved about $10 on this product by purchasing it through Amazon.

Entertaining review of the human body by an author at home with the written word- an easy read.
This is an ideal book to give to an intelligent 12 year old who is curious about her/his body.
That is not to say anyone at any age wouldn't enjoy reading this work. The author has clearly researched the topic comprehensively and disgorged a digestible portion of knowledge.
Have fun.
James Pope

A very readable book. Our bodies are our most important point of reference for the rest of the observable universe of course, and also a source of much myth and creative analogy. Michael Sims has explored all this in a very engaging style. It is very well researched and well written. Imagine my surprise to find a reference to one of Ataturk's speeches where he likens a nation to a human body. In any case, well worth it.

I found this book quite hard to enjoy because of the author's political and religious insults. If he could have just written about the body parts and not fill the pages with his own personal biases it would have been a much better read.