Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Skin Laid Bare 2 History 3 Sweat 4 Skin and Sun 5 Skin's Dark Secret 6 Color 7 Touch 8 Emotions, Sex, and Skin 9 Wear and Tear 10 Statements 11 Future Skin Glossary Notes References Index

About the Author

Nina G. Jablonski is Professor and Head of the Department of Anthropology at the Pennsylvania State University. She edited The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World and The Origin and Diversification of Language (both UC Press), among other books. Her research on human skin has been featured in National Geographic, Scientific American, and other publications.

Reviews

"When you meet people, whether they're fully clothed on the street or scantily clad on the beach, the first part of their body that you see, smell, and perhaps touch is the skin. Skin is our largest and most visible organ, our personal poster board for decoration and advertisement. Nina Jablonski gives us the best and most fascinating account of everything that you might want to know about the packaging of our anatomy." - Jared Diamond, author of Collapse and Guns, Germs, and Steel "This fascinating book traces the long evolutionary history of our integument, revealing a whole host of essential skin functions that most of us have probably never even thought of." - Ian Tattersall, author of The Fossil Trail "A fascinating and comprehensive account of the biological and cultural aspects of human skin." - John Relethford, SUNY College at Oneonta"