Skeleton Keys

A provocative and entertaining magical mineral tour through the life and afterlife of bone. (Wall Street Journal)Our bones have many stories to tell if you know how to listen.Bone is a marvel an adaptable and resilient building material developed over 500 million years of evolutionary history. It gives our bodies their shapes and the ability to move. It grows and changes with us an undeniable document of who we are and how we 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. Brian Switek is a charming and enthusiastic osteological raconteur. In this natural and cultural history of bone he explains where our skeletons came from what they do inside us and what others can learn about us when these wondrous assemblies 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.