Adam's Navel

Michael Sims is the author most recently of In the Womb: Animals (adapted from two National Geographic Channel documentaries); he is also the author of Apollo's Fire: A Journey through the Extraordinary Wonders of an Ordinary Day, which NPR chose as one of the best science books of 2007; Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form, which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Library Journal Best Science Book; and Darwin's Orchestra: An Almanac of Nature in History and the Arts. For Penguin Classics he also edited The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel and Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Thief, and he is currently editing The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime. He has written for many periodicals, from the Washington Post to New Statesman.

Adam's NavelIntroduction: The Form Complete
Neanderthals Yawned · The Mystery of the Visible
Part One: Headquarters


1. The Not-Quite-Naked Ape
The Hair of the Prophet · The Mark of the Beast · Burn It or Bury It · Samson's Hair · A Metaphysical Operation · The Etiquette of Deciduousness


2. Face-to-Face
The Family Face · The Face on Mars


3. The Vigilant Eye
Flesh Becomes a Mirror · Supercilious · The Blink of an Eye · The Dreaming Eye · Close Your Eyes


4. Houdini's Wiggle
The Ear of a Thousand Li · Darwin's Points and Houdini's Wiggle · Nor the Ear Filled with Hearing


5. A Ridiculous Organ


6. The Archaic Smile
Louis Armstrong's Lips · The Badge of a Harlot · A Kiss Is Just a Kiss · The Necessary and Ambivalent Tongue · Don't Read My Lips


Part Two: The Weight of the World


7. Arms and the Man


8. The Monkey's Paw
A Free Hand · Finger Math · Rule of Thumb · Our Natal Autograph · Tobin's Palm · On the Other Hand · Playing Chess with Death


9. Madonna del Latte
Breasts and "the Breast" · Via Lactia · The She-Devil from Hooter City · Topless · The Pillow of Paradise Versus the Millstone of History


10. Adam's Navel
Untying the Knot · A Brief History of Navel-Gazing


Part Three: A Leg to Stand on


11. Privy Members
The Commotion · Vagina Dialogues · Leonardo's Intelligent Organ · Boswell's Johnson · The Senator's Body Hair


12. Our Steed the Leg
Two Legs Good and Bad · The Scarecrow Learns to Dance · The Goddess with Beautiful Buttocks · Toes with Special Properties · Pedestrian Crossing


Acknowledgments
Selected Bibliography and Further Reading
Index