Skeleton keys : the secret life of bone Cover Image

Book

Skeleton keys : the secret life of bone / Brian Switek.

Summary:

"Bone is a marvel, an adaptable and resilient building material developed over more than four hundred million years of evolutionary history. It gives your body its shape and the ability to move. It grows and changes with you, an undeniable document of who you are and how you lived. Arguably, no other part of the human anatomy has such rich scientific and cultural significance, both brimming with life and a potent symbol of death. In this delightful natural and cultural history of bone, Brian Switek explains where our skeletons came from, what they do inside us, and what others can learn about us when these artifacts of mineral and protein are all we’ve left behind. Bone is as embedded in our culture as it is in our bodies. Our species has made instruments and jewelry from bone, treated the dead like collectors’ items, put our faith in skull bumps as guides to human behavior, and arranged skeletons into macabre tributes to the afterlife. Switek makes a compelling case for getting better acquainted with our skeletons, in all their surprising roles. Bridging the worlds of paleontology, anthropology, medicine, and forensics, Skeleton Keys illuminates the complex life of bones inside our bodies and out." -- Publisher's description

Record details

ISBN: 9780399184901
ISBN: 0399184902
ISBN: 9780525539124
ISBN: 0525539123
Physical Description: 276 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Publisher: New York : Riverhead Books, 2019.
Copyright: ©2019

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-263) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Introduction : cut to the bone -- Flesh out -- Bones to pick -- A bag of bones -- Bone shaking -- Sticks and stones -- The nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat -- Bad to the bone -- Bones of contention -- Skeletons in the closet -- Bone deep.