Quirks of Human Anatomy: An Evo‐devo Look at the Human Body

Abstract

Pennsylvania State University Anthropology Pennsylvania 16802 USA E-mail: avbuchanan@gmail.com Quirks of Human Anatomy: An Evo-devo Look at the Human Body, by Lewis I. Held, Jr. is a lively romp through the evolution of the human body – with particular attention to traits that do not work so well, which he calls ‘‘quirks’’. He wrote the book for last year’s celebration of Darwin’s 200 birthday and the 150 anniversary of the publication of Origin of Species, but it will easily stand on its own now that the champagne has been drunk and the party hats put away. The book is well written, with humor and a real passion for the subject. The illustrations are clear and informative, and, as the text, packed with details. To quote Held, ‘‘This book was written as a kind of amusement park. Its thematic ‘pretend game’ is to inspect each body part through the eyes of an alien visitor who asks, ‘Why is it this way and not that?’’’ His answers are based on current developmental genetics, explained within a Darwinian evolutionary framework. Held organizes his discussion around issues that have long occupied developmental biologists: the symmetry and asymmetry of the body plan, organization along the midline, segmentation and modularity, sexual dimorphism, and the evolution of intelligence. And then he asks questions such as why we are symmetric on the outside but asymmetric within, why our ears start out on our neck, why men go bald, or how and why humans acquired intelligence. So, why are we symmetric outside but asymmetric within?