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

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

Evolution Gone Wrong is an eye-opening look into why our bodies work—or don’t—the way they do. After all, we’re the only survivors on our branch of the tree of life. Why do human mothers have such a life-endangering experience giving birth? And why are there entire medical specialties for teeth and feet? In this funny, wide-ranging and often surprising book, biologist Alex Bezzerides tells us where we inherited our adaptable, achy, brilliant bodies in the process of evolution.

The book traces the delightfully unexpected answers to these questions and many more:

·      Why do we blink?

·      Why don’t our teeth regularly fit in our mouths?

·      Why do women menstruate when so many other mammals don’t?

·      Why did humans stand up on two legs in the first place?

ALEX BEZZERIDES is a professor of biology at Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho, where he teaches a wide range of classes from human anatomy and physiology to entomology. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Colorado State University and a PhD in neurobiology and behaviour from Cornell University. His articles have appeared in journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. With a background in anatomy and evolution, Bezzerides approaches the study of the human body with a curiosity for the historical roots of our anatomical imperfections. Inspired by his popular college classes that explore the strange-but-true origins of our body parts, Evolution Gone Wrong is a colourful and fascinating journey into our collective past. Alex Bezzerides lives in Idaho with his wife and their daughter.