Alice Roberts
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us
Heron Books, 2014
Alice Roberts is Professor of Public Engagement with Science at the University of Birmingham, and is perhaps the outstanding scientific polymath of our age: medic, anatomist, anthropologist, archaeologist, television science presenter and no mean artist. The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being is her latest book and sets out to unfold for us the amazing way in which we develop as an embryo and foetus and some of the ways in which we have probably evolved to this. And what an amazing voyage we are taken on!
I found the book immensely interesting and very readable. Roberts’ style is light, airy and chattily personal, while being scientifically accurate and informative — at times amusing and even ribald: how many authors could get away with a section entitled “Mind the Bollocks”? In fact I found the book so readable I had to ration myself to one or two chapters a night otherwise I would have devoured it in a single all night read.
We are taken on a journey from conception to birth with a look at how all the major systems of the body develop throughout pregnancy from the single egg and the successful sperm to the birth of a baby. Along the way Roberts describes the embryology, including insights from her own two pregnancies and the medical tests she has had done on her in the interests of science.
But more than this, she also discusses the archaeological evidence for how and why evolution has given us the kit of parts we have; how evolution got to produce them; and why they are different from other species. Right at the beginning of the book Roberts discusses the various theories of embryos and how babies are built from Aristotle to the present day. She is at pains to point out that each of these theories was consistent with the state of knowledge at the time so we shouldn’t scoff at them for being ignorant — one day our theories will be considered equally backward in the light of new knowledge.
Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have reservations about it. It is a book for the scientifically (specifically, medically) literate layman. Roberts, rightly in my view, calls things by their correct scientific and medical names but I felt too often missed the opportunity to explain those names; what the part is or does. Of course the downside of providing more explanation is that it could disrupt the flow of the text (and make for a larger, more expensive book).
However I think there is a solution, at least in part, to this problem. The book is illustrated by Roberts’ own delightful line drawings — a very real demonstration of her skill as an anatomist! But there are for my money far too few illustrations. There were many occasions where I felt that a drawing (or other illustration) could have made the text much more powerful: especially in cases where the anatomy of different species, or at different stages of development, is being compared. Yes, some of those drawings are there, but for me too few. And drawings could have been used to explain some of the otherwise unexplained. In this respect I wanted more.
My other gripe is one which I all too frequently have to level at modern publishing (rather than authors): the poor quality of the paper used. Yes everyone wants to keep cost down and at £19.99 for almost 400 pages in hardback this is at the cheaper end of the spectrum. But oh that poor quality paper, which will not stand the test of time.
These are, however, relatively minor complaints about a book which I found informative, hugely interesting and immensely readable. I definitely came out somewhere different to where I went in!
So if you are interested in how babies grow in the womb, and how we got to be the shape we are, then I would thoroughly recommend this book.
It really is just so unlikely that we are all here, and as “normal” as we are!
Overall Rating: ★★★★★
Category Archives: science
Oddity of the Week: Viagra
Israeli and Australian researchers discovered that 1 mg of [sildenafil (Viagra)] dissolved in a vase of water can extend the shelf life of cut flowers, making them stand up straight for up to a week beyond their natural life span. The drug also slows down plant ripening; tests were done strawberries, legumes, roses, carnations, broccoli, and other perishables. Viagra increases the vase life of the flowers by slowing the breakdown of cGMP by cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase type 5. The Viagra acts on the cGMP in a fashion similar to nitric oxide (which also slows down the ripening process), but was found to be easier to use with cut flowers.
The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Aviation went to Patricia V Agostino, Santiago A Plano, and Diego A Golombek of Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina for their discovery that Viagra helps treat jet lag recovery in hamsters.
From Wikipedia
Your Interesting Links
Another selection of pieces which you may have missed and will definitely wish you hadn’t.
It’s no wonder that bites hurt and itch when you see the chemical composition of insect venoms.
Now here’s a brilliant demonstration of the way in which evolution happened. Fish adapt to life outside water by learning to walk.
Some truly stunning macro photographs of insects by Yudy Sauw.
Question of the week … Do farts carry germs? Apparently it depends on whether or not you’re wearing pants.
We all have them, we’re not aware of them and they do no harm … mites that live on our faces. And here are three things you didn’t know about face mites.
You have a microbial aura. It rubs off on your house. And when you move house, your microbial aura moves too.
When you shave (or wax) your hair grows back ticker. Right? Apparently not.
So just why is it that fingernails grow so much faster than toenails?
And while we’re on curiosities of the human body … what are those strange things you see floating in your eye?
Oh, and here’s yet another … why do men get erections in the morning?
OK so enough of this ribaldry, let’s move on to food …
Monosodium Glutamate has a bad reputation. But is it deserved? Seems there isn’t too much evidence.
So in 50 years time, will we all be eating insects? Seems like not such a bad idea, though I still might pass on the grubby ones.
One day the medics are going to make up their minds … Now some are suggesting that a bottle of wine a day is not bad for you and abstaining is worse than drinking.
And so to things historical …
Did the historical Jesus exist? It seems a growing number of scholars don’t think he did and that Christianity is a load of myths repackaged by people like St Paul.
Well guess what … Stonehenge was round! Now there’s a surprise.
And here are 44 medieval beasts that just cannot handle it right now. (Well that story about Stonehenge was such a shock!)
Coming more up to date, it appears (and I use that word advisedly) that some DNA evidence has unmasked Jack the Ripper after 125 or so years. Hmmm … I’d be more convinced if this had been submitted to peer review and published in a reputable science journal, rather than in a book and the Daily Mail.
Ever thought of time travelling? Ever thought what you could do if you couldn’t take anything with you? Yep, get some useful information tattooed on. But what would you choose as a tattoo?
And for our final two contributions we descend further into the realms of the banal.
First here are 35 perfect fairy gardens made from usefully broken flowerpots etc.
And finally some hilariously amazing constructions from the National Beard & Mustache Championships.
Oddity of the Week: Red Paint
Seeing red
It seems that the paint on red cars fades more quickly than any other car colour. Is there a reason why? (Continued)
I noted the comments on fading red paint in The Last Word (7 June). I came across an amusing instance of this in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, where the Pichi Richi Pass is a spectacular feature on the road from Port Augusta to Quorn. For many years a sign naming the pass stood at its entrance. It was written in black text, except that the initial letters of each word were in red. That part of the world enjoys a lot of bright sunlight and clear skies, and the red paint faded over time to be almost invisible. This left behind a rather amusing sign.
From: “The Last Word”; New Scientist; 12 July 2014
Oddity of the Week: Electric Bacteria
No, it really isn’t 1 April, nor is this something out of Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett …
Stick an electrode in the ground, pump electrons down it, and they will come: living cells that eat electricity. We have known bacteria to survive on a variety of energy sources, but none as weird as this. Think of Frankenstein’s monster, brought to life by galvanic energy, except these “electric bacteria” are very real and are popping up all over the place.
Unlike any other living thing on Earth, electric bacteria use energy in its purest form — naked electricity in the shape of electrons harvested from rocks and metals … Experiments growing bacteria on battery electrodes demonstrate that these novel, mind-boggling forms of life are essentially eating and excreting electricity.
That should not come as a complete surprise … we know that life, when you boil it right down, is a flow of electrons …
A few years ago, biologists discovered that some produce hair-like filaments that act as wires [see above], ferrying electrons back and forth between the cells and their wider environment … tens of thousands of electric bacteria can join together to form daisy chains that carry electrons over several centimetres … it means that bacteria living in, say, seabed mud where no oxygen penetrates, can access oxygen dissolved in the seawater simply by holding hands with their friends.
From: New Scientist; 19/07/2014. Read the full story (paywall).
Your Interesting Links
Another selection of the interesting and curious you may have missed. As usual, science-y stuff first and a rather more mixed bag than normal.
Did you know that for about 2 months of every year there is no night in the UK? No neither did I! This from IanVisits back in May.
Ants that eat electricity are heading for London. No it is 1st April!
[Phobia warning] While we’re on insects, scientists have found a gargantuan aquatic insect in China.
A very rare calico lobster has been caught off the coast of Maine. Rather attractive isn’t it! It’s still alive and on display in an aquarium, but will be returned to the sea later in the year.
On to things that are slightly more concerning. Apparently the environmental cost of beef is ten times that of other meat. But why didn’t they include lamb?
Next an interesting piece on why most of our domesticated animals have floppy ears.
My body makes funny noises. Yours probably does too, but maybe different ones. But why do bodies do these strange things?
Does your rainbow smell? As a “normal” person I find it hard to imagine what synaesthesia must be like. Here are a few insights.
Going back to food for a moment … Scientists are finding a surprisingly complex world of microbes in cheese rind. Yep, that’s what makes all these cheeses taste different.
It looks as if we may have been, and still are being, seriously misled all these years into thinking fat is harmful. Scientists are now suggesting this really isn’t so and dietary advice needs to be changed. Duh!
So stepping quickly into the world of medicine … On how the Great War helped create the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
At last some people are beginning to understand the way things work. Here’s a medical study which underlines that decriminalising sex work actually reduces HIV infections as well as violence etc.
Next up we have two interesting articles looking at whether women should or shouldn’t shave areas like legs and armpits: the first by Hadley Freeman in the Guardian; the second by Lucy Brisbane in the Evening Standard. Basically don’t fall into the trap of doing it because fashion etc. say you should. But think about it and shave or not, depending on whether you actually want to, not because of fashion or other people’s attitudes. Be yourself and remember the old adage: “Those that matter don’t mind, and those that mind don’t matter”.
For the historians amongst you, an interesting new theory on how our legends really began.
We’ll gradually bring the historical pieces up to date, so next a look at the naughty and scatological world of medieval marginalia.
A soldier’s lot hasn’t actually changed that much since the Battle of Hastings. Photographer Thom Atkinson displays the essential soldiering kit as it evolved over the last millennium.
Our favourite London cabbie reachee the end of his series on Waterloo Station with a look at the advent of the Eurostar terminal.
This has to be crazy museum piece of the year: an exhibition of broken relationships. Well it is in Brussels.
And finally I’ll leave you with two amusements. First a fractal giraffe. Secondly a display of tooth jewellery.
Anchors away!
Coming up in August
Interesting events an anniversaries in the month ahead. But yet again there isn’t a lot going on this month, probably because it is holiday season. Anyway, here’s what we have …
1 August
Lammas Day which is the festival of the wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year. On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop, which began to be harvested at Lammastide. It coincides with the Christian feats day of St Peter ad Vincula (St Peter in Chains). Lughnasadh (Lammas) is also one of the eight sabbats observed by Pagans and is the first of their three autumn harvest festivals, the other two being the autumn equinox (Mabon) and Samhain.
1 August
This day also marks the Accession of George I in 1714 following the death of Queen Anne. He reigned until his death in 1727 and was also Elector of Hanover from 1698 to 1727. It was during George’s reign that the powers of the monarchy diminished and Britain began its transition to the modern system of cabinet government led by a prime minister.
3 August
Friendship Day. Celebrated on the first Sunday in August, Friendship Day is a worldwide opportunity to celebrate the joys of friendship. Find out more at www.friendshipday.org.
4 to 10 August
National Allotments Week. Once again the National Allotment Society is encouraging allotment sites across England and Wales to open their gates to celebrate the enduring nature of the allotment movement and hold a party for their plot-holders and the wider community. More details at www.nsalg.org.uk/news-events-campaigns/national-allotments-week/.
13 August
Birth in 1814 of the Swedish Anders Jonas Ångström who is generally accepted to be the father of spectroscopy — study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy (light, radio waves, x-rays etc.) — on which so much of modern science and medicine is dependent.
20 August
In 1864 JAR Newlands (1837–98) produced what many consider to be the first periodic table. Although Dmitri Mendeleev is given all the credit for the periodic table, Newlands got a large part of the way to Mendeleev’s solution some five years earlier. However the Chemistry Society in Britain ridiculed Newlands’ ideas and declined to publish his papers, thus possibly denying him a prior claim.
28 August
The 1914 Battle of Heligoland bight between Britain and Germany in the SE North Sea. The battle was won by the British and restricted the movements of the German Navy.
Your Interesting Links
More links to items of interest which you may have missed. Quite a science based set this time, although again none of it too deep that non-scientists will get totally lost!
To start off this holiday season, what causes the scent of the sea? And no, it isn’t ozone as everyone believes!
Quickly followed by a quick look at the chemistry of insect repellents.
From insect pests to bacterial pests … A new study suggests that culling badgers is going to have next to no effect on bovine TB and the only way to constrain it is with mass culls of cattle. Sadly there’s probably zero chance the politicians will listen.
Following on from which George Monbiot is (quite rightly) scathing about the way the government is attempting to prevent the reintroduction of wildlife to the UK by using the Infrastructure Bill currently before parliament.
And here’s a piece on how we need to change the way we produce food if we are to be able to feed the ever increasing world population. Basically the whole global food narrative has to change because the current one, even with known tweaks, won’t work!
While we’re on food, here is a piece debunking ten common claims about genetically-modified crops. Yes, I understand the science, but I’m still not entirely comfortable with GMOs.
More food … This time it’s cheese, and a look at the work going on to understand the complex web of bacteria and fungi which turn milk into different types of cheese.
An important article looking at how we have to understand the statistical basis for evaluating actions (medical, social etc.). We have to measure their effectiveness against the background expected death rate (say), rather than against zero deaths.
[Trigger warning, especially for those who may have had miscarriages etc.]
Now let’s slide quietly into the medical arena with a look at the human placenta and the work that is going on to really understand it’s complexity and involvement in gestational and neonatal problems.
Here’s another important piece by the ever-excellent Prof Alice Roberts on how some hormonal contraceptives might be making PMS worse. And apparently this is something many women and lots of GPs do not understand well enough.
Here are twenty things you didn’t know about teeth.
And still on things medical, an interesting article by Carl Zimmer on the mysteries surrounding human blood groups and why we have them.
Now how’s this for a piece of lateral thinking? … A team of scientists are working on a system to use bubble wrap for conducting cheap blood and bacterial tests out in the field, away from the pathology lab, and where cost is a major issue.
The modern bathroom is a wasteful and unhealthy design. But it seems to stay that way because it is space efficient.
So at last we slide into psychology with an article on why the much hated Myers-Briggs test of personality types is totally meaningless.
I don’t pretend to understand Islam, so I found this infographic on the relationship between the various Islamic Sects very illuminating. Now will someone please do the same for Christianity and Buddhism.
And finally … A group of physicists and mathematicians are using mathematical tools to look at the complex social relations in the Icelandic Sagas (as well as other texts) and finding new things that literature specialists haven’t been able to unravel.
Oddity of the Week: Blue Honey
French beekeepers were recently shocked when their bees started producing thick, blue and green honey.
After investigating, they discovered their bees were feeding on the colourful shells of M&Ms — a Mars processing plant was located just 4 km away.
The Mars waste-processing plant has now solved the problem and are cleaning any outdoor or uncovered containers that M&M waste was stored in, so it’s unlikely you’ll see the blue honey on the market any time soon.
As Reuters reports, the unsellable honey is a new issue for the beekeepers, who are already struggling with high bee mortality rates and dwindling honey supplies.
From http://sciencealert.com.au/news/20142405-25561.html
Your Interesting Links
More interesting items you may have missed. Lots of science and medicine curiosities in this edition, but its should all be accessible to the non-scientist.
Who thinks mathematics is boring? You won’t when you see the beauty of mathematics in pictures! I’m definitely worried about image four.
Chemicals have a bad name. Wrongly! Manmade or natural, tasty or toxic, they’re all chemicals.
Shifting to the zoo-world, here’s a piece on the curious and improbable tale of flatfish evolution.
Beaver! No not that sort! Honestly your minds! I’m talking about the beavers that have been reintroduced to Scotland, and which are doing well.
Concrete jungle. Yes, it certainly is a jungle out there. Our cities, yes even the most urban and built-up parts of them, can be important wildlife habitat.
Bananas are in trouble and we don’t have a solution to save our favourite fruit. Oh and they’re quite an interesting plant too.
All our food is toxic, innit. Actually, no. But here’s why the fear, uncertainty and doubt are far too easy to believe, and how to counteract it.
On the continuing saga of why chocolate is good for us, but just not in the form you like it.
Five-a-day doesn’t add up. It’s not all marketing hype, except when the arithmetic is wrong.
Turnips. The humble vegetable that terrorised the Romans and helped industrialise Britain.
What do you mean you thought apples grew on trees? Well, OK, they do but originally not the trees you thought. An interesting piece on saving the wild ancestor of modern apples.
Farting well? It could mean you have a good healthy collection of gut microbes.
Just don’t read this next story over dinner. It seems we eat parasites more than we realise.
And another that’s definitely not safe for mealtime reading … A long read on some of the work going on behind faecal transplants, and how they’re being so successful in treating stubborn illnesses.
Lads, here are three cardinal rules from a urologist about care of your plumbing.
Phew! So now let’s leave the scientific and medical behind us and more on.
Naturism is the practice of going without clothes — and it’s not shameful, embarrassing or ridiculous.
Still on naturism, here’s one young lady’s experience of being clothes free at home.
And here are some more views on the way the new Nordic sex laws are making prostitutes feel less, not more, safe.
From
Vagina in the workplace — a story. The closing ideal has to be a good way forward, surely.
Changing tack (yes, OK, about time!) here’s part five of the ongoing series from a black cab driver about Waterloo Station. OK, hands up, how many of you knew it was a war memorial?
And finally, the BBC have unearthed a box of forgotten letters sent from occupied France during WWII. See you never know what’s in that dusty box in the attic!