Customer Reviews

From fish to philosopher

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Homer Smith was a lecturer in renal physiology when I was a medical student at the NYU School of Medicine, 1959-1963. He was famous for his pioneering research in the field, and everone called him "Dr. Smith", even though he had no M.D. or PhD degree.
When we graduated, a pharmaceutical firm gave each member of my class a copy of Smith's book, "From Fish to Philosopher". Smith was an expert on the kidney, and in this book he described the evolution of the kidney. As I recollect, he told us how it had actually evolved more than once, in more than one primitive species.
However, Smith also pondered the evolution of consciousness and intelligence in the book. In his view, mentation is primarily involved with perceiving an planning motions in space. Therefore, creatures who can live without these activities, such as clams or jellyfish, don't have minds, and don't need them.
But once nature had discovered the game of predator/prey, then locomotion, and its planning became evolutionarily imperative.
Imagine then, the mental behaviors of the first big fish and the first little fish. This imagining is as heady as pondering the dimensions of outer space.
Years before Konrad Lorenz appeared in English, Homer Smith introduced a whole new way of humans looking at themselves.
This review was written by Bob Rose, M.D., 2505 Willowmere Trace, Kennesaw, GA 30144