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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Audiobook.
Fascinating. Enjoyed the narrative used to present the information. Also, It's used two of the studies referenced in the last chapter as sources for a clear paper a few semesters ago, ha ha!
Fascinating. Enjoyed the narrative used to present the information. Also, It's used two of the studies referenced in the last chapter as sources for a clear paper a few semesters ago, ha ha!
I read this book, usually during the day, while in the evenings reading J. Drew Lanham's The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature. Early on in both I noticed one similarity that caused some annoyance for me as a reader: both authors like to play with their words. The Home Place was filled with flowery prose that at times felt like a bouquet of fragrant flowers. This book began with bouts of alliteration. As you might notice, I, too, like alliteration, but at some point enough is enough!
Nonetheless, as with The Home Place, the story grew on me. I am a fan of human anatomy. It has always fascinated me and is more so the case since I began practicing yoga in 2005. I was eager to see what Brian Switek had to say about 'the secret life of bone.'
Some of the stories Switek shares were quite interesting to me, and others only somewhat. Sometimes I found his writing not specific enough, with his writing obscuring the details within.
Still, by the book's end I had enjoyed this journey through the life of bones, and it is quite apparent that Brian Switek lives and breaths bones, anatomy, and the stories they can reveal.
Nonetheless, as with The Home Place, the story grew on me. I am a fan of human anatomy. It has always fascinated me and is more so the case since I began practicing yoga in 2005. I was eager to see what Brian Switek had to say about 'the secret life of bone.'
Some of the stories Switek shares were quite interesting to me, and others only somewhat. Sometimes I found his writing not specific enough, with his writing obscuring the details within.
Still, by the book's end I had enjoyed this journey through the life of bones, and it is quite apparent that Brian Switek lives and breaths bones, anatomy, and the stories they can reveal.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
ok, this book is pretty fascinating in parts, and I also thought it had way too broad of a scope. It took me a while to get used to the tone. But to me the most valuable part of the book was the discussion of “osteological sex”vs "biological sex" and all of the assumptions that get made about the gendering of bones. The author has written about her experiences and identifies as non-binary and trans, and I really appreciated her viewpoints https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02113-6
Thanks to Reading Glasses podcast for highlighting this book & author!
Thanks to Reading Glasses podcast for highlighting this book & author!
This is a good look at bones, how they developed, how they work, how they make us who we are.
This book starts off more science-centric then begins to shift focus to be more about sociology and culture.
Where it went off the rails, IMO, was when it drifted over into politics - not race, because you have to know it's going to talk about race. It talked about leftists and neo-Nazis and colonialism and the politics of bones. I wasn't looking for that in this book.
Good info, not quite what I was expecting overall.
This book starts off more science-centric then begins to shift focus to be more about sociology and culture.
Where it went off the rails, IMO, was when it drifted over into politics - not race, because you have to know it's going to talk about race. It talked about leftists and neo-Nazis and colonialism and the politics of bones. I wasn't looking for that in this book.
Good info, not quite what I was expecting overall.
I love a good book about bones, and I'm probably biased, but I thought this was a really great beginner's guide to the importance of bone to the history of human development. I liked that Switek delved not only into the physical properties of bone, and how it evolved and shaped human history, but also how human beings have treated human bones throughout various societies. Love the mentions of various burial rites and rituals surrounding bone, as well as not shying away from the rather sordid beginnings of Anthropology as a field of study. I especially enjoyed the discussion on repatriation of bones claimed by Native American/Indigenous peoples—personally don't think it can be discussed enough, as it is still an ongoing effort to decolonize the field and return the personhood to the people whose remains Anthropologists study.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This book is a great little introduction to the frames inside us: bones. The author discusses everything from how bones first developed and evolved, to religion, to how they have been used to justify terrible things, to what we do with them today. Fascinating!
I was eager to read this book because of how much I enjoyed his prior book, My Beloved Brontosaurus. Although I didn't enjoy this book anywhere near as much as that one it still was good, short, and entertaining. Having never taken an Anatomy class, but teaching physical science, I have picked up bits and pieces along the way but still have huge gaps in my knowledge. With much to learn, a book like this helps plug some of those holes. Brian Switek does a good job of explaining evolution in general, human evolution specifically, and the stories that bones can tell us.
The biggest criticism I have of this book is that he sometimes defers to things other people have written about the subject too often. For example, in several places he spends a decent amount of time discussing and debating some of Stephen Jay Gould's writings and criticisms of them, but if you don't have a familiarity with those original writings (which I don't) that leaves you grasping comprehend the content. This book reminded me a lot of Neil Shubin's book Your Inner Fish, which Switek even refers to a few times. Again although not as good as his last book this one is still good and informative. It teaches, but does so by couching the learning within stories tied to examples. This book leaves me a fan and looking forward to what Brian Switek will write in the future.
The biggest criticism I have of this book is that he sometimes defers to things other people have written about the subject too often. For example, in several places he spends a decent amount of time discussing and debating some of Stephen Jay Gould's writings and criticisms of them, but if you don't have a familiarity with those original writings (which I don't) that leaves you grasping comprehend the content. This book reminded me a lot of Neil Shubin's book Your Inner Fish, which Switek even refers to a few times. Again although not as good as his last book this one is still good and informative. It teaches, but does so by couching the learning within stories tied to examples. This book leaves me a fan and looking forward to what Brian Switek will write in the future.