Book Review: Your Inner Fish

Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body 
by Neil Shubin 

Awesome mainstream science nonfiction book. Easy to read and understand, yet covers interesting science content. This book covers the evolutionary history of man. It starts out with the story of the author fossil hunting and finding a "missing link" fish/amphibian - the fins/legs transition ancestor. Then, goes through various body systems and traces back to which animals these systems first appeared in. Makes great connections to genes, DNA, and fossil evidence. Also uses logic and science to show evolutionary relationships. Overall - great book to read to deepen your understanding of biology or just to learn more about your own body.

Book Review: Suburban Safari

Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn 
by Hannah Holmes 

This fun mainstream nonfiction book takes environmental awareness to a new level. Hannah Holmes resolves to spend one year examining, in minute detail, her yard. She brings in experts to help her learn about some areas of her yard (entomolgy anyone?) and does historical research into the past life of her yard. Hannah Holmes writes in a very down-to-earth style that is extremely easy to follow. She shares her personal thoughts intertwined with the stories of the "characters" found in the yard. You'll never look at your yard the same way again. My favorite take-away message - mowing infrequently and not worrying about weeds in the yard is an environmentally healthy behavior. Go green! :)

Book Review: Farewell, My Subaru

Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living 
by Doug Fine 

Fun novel about getting back-to-your-roots in an ecologically friendly way. Lots of problems for our local hero as he moves from city to wilderness and decides to reduce his carbon footprint. Topics include changing over to a diesel engine to run on used frying oil (and thus the car smelling like fast food all the time), buying baby goats to eventually milk to make homemade ice cream (and becoming a goat daddy to babies scared to be alone), and several home improvement projects that just don't work right the first time around. Very humorous (although doubtful it would be if it was happening to you), this is a good story about a guy's perseverance and eventual success in making his goals come true. 

Book Review: Survival of the Sickest

Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease 
by Sharon Moalem, Jonathan Prince

Very entertaining and makes you think! Sharon Moelem writes in a very public-friendly manner, but manages to xplain historical and scientific facts in ways that are both entertaining and informative. The basic idea of this book is the question: if diseases are so bad and can kill of huge amounts of the population, why do they persist? Shouldn't natural selection weed them out? Sharon Moelenm looks at several current health problems & diseases. He explains what is happening in the body, and explore the historical past to see if that particular mechanism was ever an advantage. He comes up with some extremely interesting parallels! I recommend this to anyone interested in medicine, evolutionary history, of who just wants to learn more about how their body works. Great book! (Even interesting to students!)

Fun Book Fact: Old Book Smell

Did you know?

"Lignin, the stuff that prevents all trees from adopting the weeping habit, is a polymer made up of units tahat are closely related to vanillin.  When made into paper and stored for years, it breaks down and smells good. Which his how divine providence has arranged for secondhand bookstores to smell like good quality vanilla absolute, subliminally stoking a hunger for knowledge in all of us."

~Perfumes:  The Guide