This week, we continue our discussion of Some Assembly Required by Neil Shubin. Still plenty of time to get your hands on that one, we’re wrapping up in two weeks!
How are you liking the book so far?
What’s a new thing you learned? What did you think about the parts about heredity?
Have you got a favorite person or scientist you learned about?
We’ll finish up in two weeks, and then vote on the next round of books!
I'm really enjoying this book so far. I'm listening to the audio book, which makes it hard (for me, anyway) to go back through and revisit stories about individual scientists. They all sort of blend together. I did like that the one guy in the museum (Goldschmidt?) wrote a 700+ page book just because he was mad about one paragraph in a paper.
One thought that I keep coming back to when listening to this book is that life and evolution are kind of sloppy. It really seems like the whole system that makes us and literally every other living thing work should be a little more robust. I was just listening to a part this morning about how much virus DNA has integrated itself into our own, AND how some of it seems really useful. It's one reason why I don't like biology. I know it holds up and it's good science, but it makes me sort of...uncomfortable? Like, we should have addressed some of these really obvious design flaws in the last 3.8 billion years since life evolved. I have similar feelings about quantum mechanics.
I think the most mind-bending thing that I learned was early on when he was talking about how a lot of animals basically start out on the same template. I knew that embryos don't really start looking like whatever animal they're going to turn into until pretty late in gestation, but I didn't appreciate just how similar all life is. It makes sense because of evolution, but this is another one of those things that makes me vaguely uncomfortable, if I'm honest.
This is the first time I’m hearing a comment I am a 15 year member of the the friends of garrison Keillor my name is Lorenzo however, I will respond to Larry but I prefer Lorenzo Paolella lucky to be born in Brooklyn in 1938. The Brooklyn Dodgers broke my heart when they moved to LA years later I met a lovely lady name Margaret Ryan she lived in Somerville Massachusetts the low bottom. Community walking distance to Fenway Park and hanging out in Harvard Square. Hoping to increase my. IQ I said to report it doesn’t help makes me laugh. Have a lovely day folks.
Born with dyslexia before it became famous. So I chose to avoid I so I leaned in to engineering
I was pretty good at it. I was mostly a one-man consulting company helping successful but Limited contractors. Move forward to a higher level of contracting with my Assistance. Did not have to pay me? Until they made more money than they ever did without my assistance. This allowed me to return to a simple life somebody called retirement, or is that I prefer to say I remain unemployable. stay safe, express gratitude be generous stay in touch. living in Rhinebeck, New York sharing a home with daughters and friends. I say again I’m grateful for the gift of life.
I enjoy reading that makes me laugh. It’s a gift at every opportunity to laugh. I’m 85 1/3 years old and laughing every day makes life worthwhile it’s a gift share it with Grace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q1EkWtff2I
I'm really enjoying this book so far. I'm listening to the audio book, which makes it hard (for me, anyway) to go back through and revisit stories about individual scientists. They all sort of blend together. I did like that the one guy in the museum (Goldschmidt?) wrote a 700+ page book just because he was mad about one paragraph in a paper.
One thought that I keep coming back to when listening to this book is that life and evolution are kind of sloppy. It really seems like the whole system that makes us and literally every other living thing work should be a little more robust. I was just listening to a part this morning about how much virus DNA has integrated itself into our own, AND how some of it seems really useful. It's one reason why I don't like biology. I know it holds up and it's good science, but it makes me sort of...uncomfortable? Like, we should have addressed some of these really obvious design flaws in the last 3.8 billion years since life evolved. I have similar feelings about quantum mechanics.
I think the most mind-bending thing that I learned was early on when he was talking about how a lot of animals basically start out on the same template. I knew that embryos don't really start looking like whatever animal they're going to turn into until pretty late in gestation, but I didn't appreciate just how similar all life is. It makes sense because of evolution, but this is another one of those things that makes me vaguely uncomfortable, if I'm honest.
This is the first time I’m hearing a comment I am a 15 year member of the the friends of garrison Keillor my name is Lorenzo however, I will respond to Larry but I prefer Lorenzo Paolella lucky to be born in Brooklyn in 1938. The Brooklyn Dodgers broke my heart when they moved to LA years later I met a lovely lady name Margaret Ryan she lived in Somerville Massachusetts the low bottom. Community walking distance to Fenway Park and hanging out in Harvard Square. Hoping to increase my. IQ I said to report it doesn’t help makes me laugh. Have a lovely day folks.
Born with dyslexia before it became famous. So I chose to avoid I so I leaned in to engineering
I was pretty good at it. I was mostly a one-man consulting company helping successful but Limited contractors. Move forward to a higher level of contracting with my Assistance. Did not have to pay me? Until they made more money than they ever did without my assistance. This allowed me to return to a simple life somebody called retirement, or is that I prefer to say I remain unemployable. stay safe, express gratitude be generous stay in touch. living in Rhinebeck, New York sharing a home with daughters and friends. I say again I’m grateful for the gift of life.
I enjoy reading that makes me laugh. It’s a gift at every opportunity to laugh. I’m 85 1/3 years old and laughing every day makes life worthwhile it’s a gift share it with Grace.
The Monster Within! The book is starting to pick up for me. Really enjoyed reading about Susumu Ohno!!