Like the title hints at, this book is about exploring science to see what our latest findings might augment or change about our sense of what a "human" is, and what the animals are. The title shows that instead of focusing on the innumerable variations among the animal kingdom, Shubin intends to show similarities between the animals, bringing attention to various parts of the human genome that are shared with unusual creatures that might seem completely different from us—even fish.
As the book unfolds, a strange paradox emerges as the reader notes that what seems most unusual about human anatomy, the nuanced eyes, ears, and olfactory system, are actually the least unique part of our anatomy. Not only are eyes, ears, and noses shared by a vast majority of animals, but most of them are surprisingly similar. Then we learn that these senses are old, too. They go back way earlier in evolutionary history than it might seem, given their modern complexity, but the basic machinery is almost as old as life.
In other words, Shubin sees the beauty and wonder of evolution, especially because it teaches us about ourselves. And, the biological component of the book helps to illustrate ways that we can continue to learn from the animals, discovering why some animals manifest such different physical characteristics with only slight variations in DNA.
