Adam's Navel

A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form

Michael Sims (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

352 Seiten

2004
Penguin USA (Verlag)
978-0-14-200464-7 (ISBN)

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In this amusing and brilliantly conceived book, Michael Sims introduces you to your body. Moving from head to toe, Sims blends cultural history with evolutionary theory to produce a wonderfully original narrative in which he analyzes the visible parts of the body. In this fascinating brew of science and storytelling, readers encounter not only accessible explanations of the mechanics of their anatomy, but also the layers of mythology, religious lore, history, Darwinian theory, and popular culture that have helped to shape our understanding of any given body part. A titillating and unique book, Adam’s Navel is learned and entertaining, a marvelous lens through which to study the form we all inhabit—but may not really understand.

Michael Sims is the author most recently of In the Womb: Animals (adapted from two National Geographic Channel documentaries); he is also the author of Apollo's Fire: A Journey through the Extraordinary Wonders of an Ordinary Day, which NPR chose as one of the best science books of 2007; Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form, which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Library Journal Best Science Book; and Darwin's Orchestra: An Almanac of Nature in History and the Arts. For Penguin Classics he also edited The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel and Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Thief, and he is currently editing The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime. He has written for many periodicals, from the Washington Post to New Statesman.

Adam's NavelIntroduction: The Form Complete
Neanderthals Yawned · The Mystery of the Visible
Part One: Headquarters

1. The Not-Quite-Naked Ape
The Hair of the Prophet · The Mark of the Beast · Burn It or Bury It · Samson's Hair · A Metaphysical Operation · The Etiquette of Deciduousness

2. Face-to-Face
The Family Face · The Face on Mars

3. The Vigilant Eye
Flesh Becomes a Mirror · Supercilious · The Blink of an Eye · The Dreaming Eye · Close Your Eyes

4. Houdini's Wiggle
The Ear of a Thousand Li · Darwin's Points and Houdini's Wiggle · Nor the Ear Filled with Hearing

5. A Ridiculous Organ

6. The Archaic Smile
Louis Armstrong's Lips · The Badge of a Harlot · A Kiss Is Just a Kiss · The Necessary and Ambivalent Tongue · Don't Read My Lips

Part Two: The Weight of the World

7. Arms and the Man

8. The Monkey's Paw
A Free Hand · Finger Math · Rule of Thumb · Our Natal Autograph · Tobin's Palm · On the Other Hand · Playing Chess with Death

9. Madonna del Latte
Breasts and "the Breast" · Via Lactia · The She-Devil from Hooter City · Topless · The Pillow of Paradise Versus the Millstone of History

10. Adam's Navel
Untying the Knot · A Brief History of Navel-Gazing

Part Three: A Leg to Stand on

11. Privy Members
The Commotion · Vagina Dialogues · Leonardo's Intelligent Organ · Boswell's Johnson · The Senator's Body Hair

12. Our Steed the Leg
Two Legs Good and Bad · The Scarecrow Learns to Dance · The Goddess with Beautiful Buttocks · Toes with Special Properties · Pedestrian Crossing

Acknowledgments
Selected Bibliography and Further Reading
Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	29.6.2004
Sprache	englisch
Maße	130 x 196 mm
Gewicht	260 g
Themenwelt	Studium ► 1. Studienabschnitt (Vorklinik) ► Anatomie / Neuroanatomie
	Studium ► 1. Studienabschnitt (Vorklinik) ► Physiologie
	Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Evolution
	Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Humanbiologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	0-14-200464-2 / 0142004642
ISBN-13	978-0-14-200464-7 / 9780142004647
Zustand	Neuware