Here we're talking about earliest members of the genus Homo. JABLONSKI: Well, basically, we can make a very good case for humans, our human lineage having lost most of its functional body hair probably around two million years ago when we became very active bipedal primates in equatorial African environments. There was a theory I guess that hair, human hair developed to keep us warm before we had clothes, but you say that's not quite the case. You talk about - one thing I was fascinated by was hair, you know.
So it's an amazingly important biological organ and it's an organ of human self-expression.ĬHIDEYA: You break things down into different categories. And as human beings, it does an enormous number of things for us culturally. We take it completely for granted, and it does a variety of wonderful things for us biologically. The skin is one of the most underappreciated parts of the body. But without the skin there, there can be no us? NINA JABLONSKI (Author, Skin: A Natural History): Thank you.ĬHIDEYA: So you write in your book that a body without skin proves that we're all the same. Let's not forget pimples and all the other concepts associated with skin.Īnthropologist Nina Jablonski has written a new book about the largest organ of the human body. Think of beauty, wrinkles, sweat, shine, odor, protection, hair. Of course, skin is more than just a racial concept. I'm Farai Chideya and this is NEWS & NOTES.įor African-Americans and arguably all Americans, skin color is tied to our history.
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