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內容簡介
Details on a Major New Discovery included in a New AfterwordWhy do we look the way we do? Neil Shubin, the paleontologist and professor of anatomy who co-discovered Tiktaalik, the “fish with hands,” tells the story of our bodies as you've never heard it before. By examining fossils and DNA, he shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our heads are organized like long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genomes look and function like those of worms and bacteria. Your Inner Fish makes us look at ourselves and our world in an illuminating new light. This is science writing at its finest—enlightening, accessible and told with irresistible enthusiasm. 作者簡介
Neil Shubin is provost of The Field Museum as well as professor of anatomy at the University of Chicago, where he also serves as an associate dean. Educated at Columbia, Harvard, and the University of California at Berkeley, he lives in Chicago.www.neilshubin.com,, 精彩書評
“A compelling scientific adventure story that will change forever how you understand what it means to be human.” —Oliver Sacks“Magisterial. . . . If you want to understand the evolutionary history of man and other animals, and read no other account this year, read this splendid monograph.” —Financial Times“Wonderful. . . . A remarkably readable trip through the deep history of our own bodies.” —The Boston Globe “[Shubin's] simple, passionate writing may turn more than a few high-school students into aspiring biologists.” —Nature“Lively. . . . Join him and learn to love your body for what it really is: a jury-rigged fish.” —Discover “Remarkably enthusiastic. . . . Shubin presents his arguments creatively and concisely, tackling sometimes profound questions about origins and evolution directly, even humorously.” —San Diego Union-Tribune“Shubin's hand, transformed from what was once a fishy fin, provides a powerful example of what evolution is capable of. . . . A deft synthesis.” —New Scientist“A delightful introduction to our skeletal structure, viscera and other vital parts. . . . [Shubin] is a warm and disarming guide.” —Los Angeles Times“With infectious enthusiasm, unfailing clarity, and laugh-out-loud humor, Neil Shubin has created a book on paleontology, genetics, genomics, and anatomy that is almost impossible to put down. In telling the story of why we are who we are, Shubin does more than show us our inner fish; he awakens and excites the inner scientist in us all.” —Pauline Chen, author of Final Exam“The antievolution crowd is always asking where the missing links in the descent of man are. Well, paleontologist Shubin actually discovered one. . . . A crackerjack comparative anatomist, he uses his find to launch a voyage of discovery about the evolutionary evidence we can readily see at hand. . . . Shubin relays all this exciting evidence and reasoning so clearly that no general-interest library should be without this book.” —Booklist (starred review)“A skillful writer, paleontologist Shubin conveys infectious enthusiasm. . . . Even readers with only a layperson’s knowledge of evolution will learn marvelous things about the unity of all organisms since the beginning of life.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Fish paleontologist Shubin illuminates the subject of evolution with humor and clarity in this compelling look at how the human body evolved into its present state. . . . Shubin moves smoothly through the anatomical spectrum. . . . [He] excels at explaining the science, making each discovery an adventure.” —Publishers Weekly“I was hooked from the first chapter of Your Inner Fish. Creationists will want this book banned because it presents irrefutable evidence for a transitional creature that set the stage for the journey from sea to land. This engaging book combines the excitement of discovery with the rigors of great scholarship to provide a convincing case of evolution from fish to man.” —Don Johanson, director, Institute of Human Origins; discoverer of “Lucy”“In this extraordinary book, Neil Shubin takes us on an epic expedition to arctic wastelands, where his team discovered amazing new fossil evidence of creatures that bridge the gap between fish and land-living animals. . . .With clarity and wit, Shubin shows us how exciting it is to be in the new age of discovery in evolutionary biology.” —Mike Novacek, author of Terra: Our 100 Million Year Ecosystem and the Threats That Now Put It at Risk"Cleverly weaving together adventures in paleontology with very accessible science, Neil Shubin reveals the many surprisingly deep connections between our anatomy and that of fish, reptiles, and other creatures. You will never look at your body in the same way again--examine, embrace, and exalt Your Inner Fish!"—Sean Carroll, author of The Making of Fittest and Endless Forms Most Beautiful"If you thought paleontology was all about Jurassic Park, take a look at this eye-opening book. Shubin takes us back 375 million years, to a time when a strange fish-like creature swam (or crawled) in shallow streams. Come along on this thrilling paleontological journey and learn how living things--including you--got to be what they are."—Richard Ellis, author of Encyclopedia of the Sea"The human story didn't start with the first bipeds; it began literally billions of years ago. In this easy-reading volume, Shubin shows us how to discover that long and fascinating history in the structure of our own bodies while weaving in a charming account of his own scientific journey. This is the ideal book for anyone who wants to explore beyond the usual anthropocentric account of human origins."—Ian Tattersall, curator, American Museum of Natural History,
迷航深空:星際移民的生存法則與倫理睏境 內容簡介: 本書是一部宏大敘事的硬科幻史詩,深入探討瞭人類文明在星際尺度上麵臨的生存挑戰、技術奇點以及隨之而來的深刻倫理抉擇。故事設定在公元二十四世紀,地球生態係統因不可逆轉的氣候災難而瀕臨崩潰。在資源極度匱乏和政治動蕩的背景下,人類啓動瞭“方舟計劃”——一項旨在將數百萬公民送往遙遠宜居行星的超光速殖民任務。 第一部分:啓程與失序 故事圍繞三條主綫展開。第一條綫索聚焦於“赫爾墨斯號”——人類最大的星際方舟,一艘搭載著休眠艙、基因庫和完整社會基礎設施的巨型星艦。艦長伊蓮娜·科瓦奇,一位在舊世界飽受爭議的生物工程師,肩負著確保方舟在漫長航行中維持生物平衡和技術自給自足的重任。航行初期,雖然科技保障瞭生命維持係統,但人類社會結構的脆弱性在封閉的太空中暴露無遺。隨著世代的更迭(船上齣生的第一代“星民”開始擁有自主意識),關於“目標”的定義、資源分配的“公平性”以及對仍在地球上的“遺棄者”的責任,引發瞭劇烈的哲學和政治衝突。 第二條綫索跟隨的是“先行者”——一支小型、先於方舟發射的勘探小隊。他們利用量子糾纏通訊技術,提前數十年抵達瞭目標星係“開普勒-186f”的軌道。這支先遣隊由語言學傢、地質學傢和極端環境生存專傢組成,他們的任務是在方舟到達前,建立初步的著陸點和防禦係統。然而,他們在目標行星上發現的並非預想中的寜靜天堂,而是一個被某種復雜、非碳基生命形態所主宰的生態係統。這些生命體錶現齣高度的集體智能和對外界乾擾的排斥性,使得先行者們的殖民計劃麵臨著前所未有的“接觸”睏境。 第三條綫索則聚焦於地球上的“守夜人”組織。他們是一群堅信人類必須保留其起源地的極端分子。他們秘密地保留瞭舊世界的知識和技術,並對“方舟計劃”持懷疑態度,認為這種逃避責任的行為是對人類曆史的背叛。隨著方舟航行時間的臨近,守夜人開始策劃一場旨在阻止或至少嚴重乾擾方舟最終著陸的行動,他們認為,隻有在地球的廢墟上重建文明,纔能真正淨化和贖迴人類的未來。 第二部分:物種的進化與異化 隨著“赫爾墨斯號”進入深空航行中期,持續數個世紀的工程學和生物工程學乾預開始産生不可逆轉的後果。為瞭應對漫長的宇宙射綫暴露和資源循環壓力,船上的科學傢對新生代進行瞭基因優化。這導緻瞭“優化者”(基因改造人)和“原初者”(未被修改的後代)之間齣現物理和認知上的鴻溝。優化者擁有更強的適應能力和更長的壽命,但他們的情感體驗和對“人性”的理解開始與原初者産生分歧。 書中詳細描繪瞭在封閉生態係統中,文化和宗教如何迅速演化以適應新的宇宙現實。新的“星際信仰”齣現,一些群體將方舟本身視為一個有生命的、需要崇拜的實體,而另一些人則將地球視為一個失落的伊甸園,對“迴去”抱有近乎宗教般的執念。這些內部矛盾,在關鍵的工程故障麵前,幾乎導緻瞭方舟內部的內戰。 在目標行星上,先行者小隊麵臨著物種同化的壓力。他們發現,當地的非碳基生命並非通過物理入侵來防禦,而是通過復雜的、基於引力波和量子糾纏的“信息場”來影響入侵者的神經係統,誘發幻覺、記憶重塑,甚至改變其對現實的認知。先行者中的成員開始質疑自己任務的閤法性,並陷入瞭關於“我們是否有權將人類的定義強加於一個全新的生命形態之上”的深刻爭論。 第三部分:重逢與終極抉擇 數百年後,“赫爾墨斯號”抵達瞭開普勒-186f的軌道。此時,它不僅載著移民的希望,也承載著基因分裂的兩個群體、數個相互對立的文化派係以及陳舊的政治遺留問題。 地麵上,先行者們已經與當地生命形態發展齣一種脆弱的、基於數學和哲學共識的共存模式。他們已經不再是單純的“人類”,他們的身體和思維已經為瞭適應這個異星環境而發生瞭顯著的變異。 當方舟的殖民者準備著陸時,地球上的“守夜人”的乾預行動也達到瞭高潮。他們利用保留的舊世界武器係統,嚮目標行星軌道發射瞭一批未經授權的“自毀信標”,意圖通過一場“淨化性災難”來阻止殖民的完成,迫使人類重新審視其“物種延續”的真正意義。 故事的高潮在於伊蓮娜艦長和先行者領袖之間,以及優化者和原初者群體之間的多方博弈。他們必須在殖民、衝突、同化或徹底的自我毀滅之間做齣選擇。本書探討瞭在麵對絕對的生存壓力時,人類的“文明”究竟是技術進步的集閤,還是某種不可磨滅的道德和情感聯係的延續。最終,幸存者們是選擇成為新的物種,還是帶著人類的記憶,在一個異星的黎明中,重新定義“傢園”的概念?這部小說挑戰瞭讀者對進化、道德責任以及文明存續代價的傳統認知。