The Universe Within: The Deep History of the Human Body

From my list of book reviews it will be blatantly obvious that I like non-fiction, especially non-fiction science books. I therefore naturally thought that The universe within by Neil Shubin would be a perfect match. A little bit of geology mixed with astronomy and evolution combined with reportedly good writing. It felt like a safe bet for me. I was wrong.

Shubin starts out by describing a geological expedition to Greenland. It was indeed interesting to learn about the hardships associated with finding stones that were formed during the time you are interested in. Shubin quickly moves on (it is a rather short book) to state that all living creatures on earth are related to one another and then he also takes it one step further, saying that we are also related to distant stars because had it not been for supernovas of massive stars the elements on which life depends, would not have formed. This, I suppose, is a profound fact, but I guess that a few paragraphs is not sufficient to convey a feeling of awe.

The book proceeds on a wild journey through space and evolution. Shubin writes about the origin of life and about the formation of stars as well as the entire universe. He frequently diverts from the main story (if there is one) and discusses other things such as the circadian rhythm. The part I personally found most interesting was the one about earth's climate on a geological timescale. Did you know that before the Himalayas formed 40 million years ago (due to the collision of the Indian and Chinese landmasses), earth was considerably warmer than it has been since then. At some points there were not even any ice caps over Antarctica. The Himalayas, Shubin explains, drained carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which was flushed into the oceans which in turn reduced the greenhouse effect of our atmosphere which cooled earth. We should expect more such drastic changes of the earth's climate in the future and we better hope that we humans are able to adapt to such changes.

This is not a bad book but I feel that if suffers from trying to cover too broad an area in too few pages. It reminds me of when my supervisor was going to give a talk about "cognition and evolution", which he felt was already stretching what you could cram into one talk. The arrangers however felt that this was too modest, can't we change the title to cogntion, evolution, and the cosmos to raise interest? I don't know how that episode ended but I can imagine that, like this book, the result would lack focus.

The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People by Neil Shubin

"The Universe Within" is a fun journey to what connects us to the cosmos. Professor Shubin the author of the best-selling "Your Inner Fish" provides readers with a wonderful and accessible book that connects the dots to our human origins. Using his background in paleontology and the converging knowledge from biology and physics; we end up with an enjoyable instructive book that is perfect for the layperson. This 240-page book is composed of the following ten chapters: 1.Rocking Our World, 2. Blasts from the Past, 3. Lucky Stars, 4. About Time, 5. The Ascent of Big, 6. Connecting the Dots, 7. Kings of the Hill, 8. Fever and Chills, 9. Cold Facts, and 10. Mothers of Invention.

Positives:
1. Great science writing. Professor Shubin is an excellent author who is able to convey the main points to a general audience.
2. Well-researched and engaging book. This book covers many areas of science with ease, from the big bang until the present.
3. Professor Shubin shares his firsthand adventures with readers which make for an enjoyable read.
4. Great use of illustrations, maps and photos that add value to book.
5. The main idea of this book, made plainly clear, "All the galaxies in the cosmos, like every creature on the planet, and every atom, molecule, and body on Earth are deeply connected. That connection begins at a single point 13.7 billion years ago".
6. Good explanation of how rocks tie us to the past.
7. Many great stories of scientists behind important discoveries.
8. The importance of properties of light. How chemistry evolved.
9. A little astronomy for good measure and how it relates to humans.
10. A lot of amazing tidbits interspersed throughout the narrative. "It is a virtual certainty that within the next billion years the sun will run through its hydrogen fuel, expand, and become superhot. In the process, Earth will almost certainly lose its water".
11. How to determine time...many convergences of interest. "Earth spins slower and slower with each passing moment..." Biological clocks.
12. Fossils, ancient species...the evolution of species. Fossils and rock layers.
13. The fascinating balance of oxygen between the forces that produce it and those that consume it.
14. The scientists and observations that led to plate tectonics. "Girl talk". Continental drift.
15. The discovery of extinctions.
16. The evolution of our planet. The impact of carbon dioxide. The cycle of carbon. "The rise of the Tibetan Plateau led to the shift from a warm Earth to a cold one; it did so by pulling carbon from the air via erosion of rock".
17. The "cold" hard facts. The ice age theory. The regular intervals that they occur. "Earth's orbit changes in three major ways. Over 100,000 years Earth's orbit goes from the shape of an oval to a more circular pattern. During 41,000 years Earth rocks back and forth about 2 degrees. And in the course of 19,000 years Earth's tilt wobbles like a top". The ice ages are correlated to the changing orbit, tilt, and gyration of Earth...how cool is that?
18. Human evolution. Biology and culture.
19. Further reading section. Good sources.

Negatives:
1. Did not take advantage of links in the Kindle version.
2. As wonderful as this book is it really is intended for the layperson and as a result lacks depth.
3. The book is heavily weighted in favor of geology.

In summary, this was a fun book to read. Professor Shubin is an engaging author who does a wonderful job of conveying his main ideas to the public. The book is about the thrill of the scientific hunt. In this case, it was about the hunt for discoveries that link humans to our cosmos. As wonderful as this book is, it's not in the same league as his masterpiece, "Your Inner Fish"; be that as it may, it's a solid, accessible book. If you are a layperson and want to learn what connects us all, by all means pick up this book, I highly recommend it!

Further suggestions: "Written in Stone" by Brian Switek, "Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters" by Donald R. Prothero, "Universe Inside You" by Brian Clegg, "The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code" by Sam Kean, "The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution" by Gregory Cochran, "About Time" by Adam Frank, "Deep Ancestry: Inside The Genographic Project" by Spencer Wells, "Why Evolution Is True" by Jerry A. Coyne, , "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond, "A Universe from Nothing" by Lawrence Krauss, and "Wonders of the Universe" by Brian Cox.