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Penn Reading Project 2007:

Penn Reading Project 2008:http://www.rescomp.upenn.edu/prpleaders/
Every year since 1991, Penn's incoming freshmen have come together in small groups with faculty to discuss a book selected specifically for that class. The Penn Reading Project (PRP) is a major feature of New Student Orientation, and the first opportunity students have to interact with faculty in an intellectual discussion.

The Class of 2012’s book is Neil Shubin’s Your Inner Fish

A Note from Author Neil Shubin

This book grew out of an extraordinary circumstance in my life. On account of faculty departures, I ended up directing the human anatomy course at the University of Chicago medical school. Anatomy is the course during which nervous first-year medical students dissect human cadavers while learning the names and organization of most of the organs, holes, nerves, and vessels in the body. This is their grand entrance to the world of medicine, a formative experience on their path to becoming physicians. At first glance, you couldn't have imagined a worse candidate for the job of training the next generation of doctors: I'm a fish paleontologist.

It turns out that being a paleontologist is a huge advantage in teaching human anatomy. Why? The best roadmaps to human bodies lie in the bodies of other animals. The simplest way to teach students the nerves in the human head is to show them the state of affairs in sharks. The easiest roadmap to their limbs lies in fish. Reptiles are a real help with the structure of the brain. The reason is that the bodies of these creatures are simpler versions of ours.

During the summer of my second year leading the course, working in the Arctic, my colleagues and I discovered fossil fish that gave us powerful new insights into the invasion of land by fish over 375 million years ago. That discovery and my foray into teaching human anatomy led me to a profound connection. That connection became this book.

The path leading to Your Inner Fish, which was published in 2008, begins two years earlier, when Shubin, a renowned paleontologist and anatomy professor, discovered “Tiktaalik,” a prehistoric crocodile-like animal that may represent a missing link in the tree of life. In Your Inner Fish, Shubin continues his exploration of evolution as he investigates fundamental questions of origins, development, and human existence. The book is both fact-filled and accessible to the non-scientist. It is also a kind of diary of Shubin’s research, and a celebration of the pleasures and excitement that surround academic pursuits. Oliver Sacks said of Your Inner Fish that it is “…an intelligent, exhilarating, and compelling scientific adventure story, one which will change forever how you understand what it means to be human.” Specifically for this project, Professor Shubin has provided us with some questions for you to consider as you read, which you can find here http://www.upenn.edu/nso/prp/fish/questions.html

The choice of this year’s PRP book also reflects Penn’s commitment to the Year of Evolution, a commemoration of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday that examines the concept of change across many disciplines. Following the Penn Reading Project, we will continue to offer themed programming on the subject of evolution and related issues throughout the year. For more on the Year of Evolution, see: http://www.yearofevolution.org/

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Penn Reading Project 2007:

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