Spare Parts: In Praise of Your Appendix and Other Unappreciated Organs

Description

Charles Darwin considered them extraneous, but this witty book sheds modern scientific light on the Darwin Six -- appendix, tailbone, "third eyelid," wisdom teeth, external ear muscles, body hair -- once considered useless, now known to be both valuable and interesting, plus a chapter on the true "dispensables," parts with which we can indeed dispense. Along the way, best-selling author Rinzler weaves in Darwin's brilliant and ground-breaking theories of evolution and shares insights into what the human body may look like millennia from now.

Carol Ann Rinzler is the author of more than 20 books on health, including Leonardo's Foot, the bestsellers Nutrition For Dummies, 6th edition, and Controlling Cholesterol For Dummies, 2nd edition, and the award-winning Estrogen and Breast Cancer. She wrote a nutrition column for the New York Daily News.

"Rinzler relishes evoking the senses. . . . The book offers a mesmerizing perspective. There is unparalleled information, both arcane and titillating, like finding out, for example, how the term 'goosebumps' is expressed in 20 foreign languages." -Manhattan Book Review "Rinzler relishes evoking the senses. . . . The book offers a mesmerizing perspective. There is unparalleled information, both arcane and titillating, like finding out, for example, how the term 'goosebumps' is expressed in 20 foreign languages." -Manhattan Book Review