Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin

[Dale]

This was a great book. I finished it in only 3 days which is quick for me. The illustrations are wonderful and give a good beginning grasp on the concept that the structures in the bodies of multicellular organisms are just variations on a theme. I'd like to learn more about embryonic development and I may look up some of his sources in the references section at the end of the book to learn more of the details. I'm specifically interested in vision development and opsin gene expression. I also would have liked it if Neil had explained how some of the structures that attach limbs to the spine developed. Is the pelvis just a large mutated vertebrae? What about the shoulders? Are the shoulders built in a similar way as the pelvis or are they built in a different manner. Shoulder bones and pelvis don't look much alike to me. And what about ribs? What's their story? Are they just extensions of the vertebrae or do they share some developmental characteristics of more external structures like limbs? There is an interview in the March issue of Discover magazine with Sean Carroll where he touches on the cellular machinery that has been conserved over evolution and is expressed similarly in the development of fruit fly limbs and eyes and vertebrate limbs and eyes (evo devo). In the same issue of Discover Neil H. Shubin's work on Tiktaalik roseae is mentioned in the article "Galapagos Next". I think even non-science people might enjoy reading this book.

[Dale]

I still have to get a headset to do the discussion right and I work some pretty wonky hours so I've not been around for the first couple discussions and my wife was in the hospital giving birth during the last discussion. I like the Planetary Report and the Society. I wish I could send them some extra money because I really appreciate the podcast too. I have a man-crush on Bill Nye. He's awesome! I need to send a donation to TWIS sometime when I get some extra cash too. I was even geeky enough to go to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago on my honeymoon last year.
I tried reading Lisa Randall's Warped Passages but I was having some trouble understanding all the brane stuff by the middle of the book so I never finished it. She talks about gravity leaking over from other branes which are like parallel universes. I'd like to pick it up again and would like it if we could read that in the Club. Black Hole wars would be great too.

[PaulaT]

I'm looking forward to the discussion on Your Inner Fish, unfortunately I was travelling during two of the previous discussions.

[PaulaT]

I'm also a member of the Planetary Society, they do good work and have an excellent little journal -- and a good weekly podcast. I'm also interested in hearing good recommendations for physics/astronomy books. I recently read Black Holes War and really liked it and could read it again if we pick it at some point.

[Dale]

I love Physics and Astronomy too. I can't wait until the LHC is fixed and running again. I want them to find the Higgs particle. I'm also a member of the Planetary Society. I'll have to look up Carroll's book the next time I'm at Borders.

[PaulaT]

I started reading Sean Carroll's book, The Making of the Fittest, it has some similarity to Your Inner Fish but more focused at the DNA level. I also find this a facinating subject and one I'd not been previously well read on (I'm more inclined to read Physics/Astronomy books, this book club is helping me expand out to biology, etc!).

Paula T.