Your Inner Fish

A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body

By: Neil Shubin

Narrated by: Marc Cashman

Why do we look the way we do? What does the human hand have in common with the wing of a fly? Are breasts, sweat glands, and scales connected in some way? To better understand the inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of many of today’s most common diseases, we have to turn to unexpected sources: worms, flies, and even fish.

Neil Shubin, a leading paleontologist and professor of anatomy who discovered Tiktaalik–the “missing link” that made headlines around the world in April 2006–tells the story of evolution by tracing the organs of the human body back millions of years, long before the first creatures walked the earth. By examining fossils and DNA, Shubin shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our head is organized like that of a long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genome look and function like those of worms and bacteria.

Shubin makes us see ourselves and our world in a completely new light. YOUR INNER FISH is science writing at its finest–enlightening, accessible, and told with irresistible enthusiasm.©2008 Neil Shubin; (P)2008 Books on Tape

Great intro to the importance of scientific inquiry and evolution research in particular

This guy has done a great job of relating interesting stories that show the connection between us and basically all life on the planet. The stories describe the reasons for certain diseases or quirks of the human body and how we are related to fish and every other animal on the planet. The narration is also good.

Listen for the Big Picture

Glad I persevered with this one! Draws a oneness between all living things. Beautifully written.

Not to be missed!

Where does Your Inner Fish rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

can't say

What other book might you compare Your Inner Fish to and why?

shubin's other book---universe within

What does Marc Cashman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

excellent reading style with right pauses and emphases

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

narrator understands shubin's humour .

Any additional comments?

no

Why and how we are here

The book that helps one truly understand the interconnections/associations of life exposing truth in science and importance history and evidence help advance knowledge and hopefully humanity

I loved this book. Not a normal commentary

I was worried this would be another boring Summer reading assignment for AP Bio, but this is now one of my favorite books!