Michael Sims

Some authors have an impressive body of work; Michael Sims has an impressive work on the body. His Adam’s Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form is both informative and entertainingly digressive. Taking stock of his subject literally from head to toe, Sims offers a remarkably thorough catalog of our body parts, and what our attitude toward them says about us. It’s armed to the teeth with anecdotes—something Sims perfected in his previous Darwin’s Orchestra, a 366-day almanac of science oddities. Like that book, Adam’s Navel is perhaps best read in short bursts rather than a single sitting, but given that restriction it’s a compelling read, more than just lip service. Sims seizes his subject in both hands and really says a mouthful. One thing, though—why no footnotes?