Forlagets omtale:
- Uses fascinating examples of bodily deformities to
explore – and even look beyond – the insights of the new science of
Evolutionary Developmental Biology (‘Evo-Devo’) - Reveals the rich and complex connections between
genetics, evolution, the environment, and development - Touches on issues that are controversial in
biology and beyond: from the evolution of new-species, to human sexuality - Includes many fascinating historical stories and
case studies - A sensitive and humane treatment of the topic. In
his own words, Blumberg concludes ‘ELin the larger, unfolding scheme of
things, we are all extraordinary, all strange, freaks every last one of us.
Some just happen to be more notable, with a particularly interesting story
to tell.’
Two-legged goats, conjoined twins, ‘Cyclops’ infants with a single eye in the
middle of their forehead, double-headed snakes, and Laloo, a man with a
partially formed twin attached to his chest… In Freaks of Nature, Mark
S. Blumberg turns a scientist’s eye on these unusual examples of humans and
other animals, showing how a subject once relegated to the sideshow can help
explain some of the deepest complexities of biology.
These examples of extreme bodily anomalies are in fact the natural products of
development, and it is through such developmental mechanisms that evolution
works. And Blumberg shows how ‘freak’ deformities can provide valuable windows
on the intimate connections between genetics, development, the environment, and
evolution. In taking seriously a subject that has often been shunned as
discomfiting and embarrassing, Freaks of Nature takes the perspective of
evolutionary developmental biology to shed new light on how individuals–and
entire species–develop, survive, and evolve.
