Evolution Gone Wrong: The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don't)

“An exhilarating clamber through some of the remoter branches of the human family tree…. Evolution Gone Wrong is the fascinating tale of our imperfections.” —Thomas Morris, author of The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth

From blurry vision to crooked teeth, ACLs that tear at alarming rates and spines that seem to spend a lifetime falling apart, it’s a curious thing that human beings have beaten the odds as a species.

After all, we’re the only survivors on our branch of the tree of life. The flaws in our makeup raise more than a few questions, and this detailed foray into the many twists and turns of our ancestral past includes no shortage of curiosity and humor to find the answers.

Why is it that human mothers have such a life-endangering experience giving birth? Why are there entire medical specialties for teeth and feet? And why is it that human babies can’t even hold their heads up, but horses are trotting around minutes after they’re born?

In this funny, wide-ranging and often surprising book, biologist Alex Bezzerides tells us just where we inherited our adaptable, achy, brilliant bodies in the process of evolution.

ALEX BEZZERIDES is a professor of biology at Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho, where he teaches a wide range of biology classes, from human anatomy and physiology to entomology. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a PhD in neurobiology and behavior. Alex lives in Idaho with his wife, Julie, and their daughter.