LEONARDO'S FOOT: How 10 Toes, 52 Bones, and 66 Muscles Shaped the Human World

Taking inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci's statement that "the human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art," Carol Ann Rinzler leads us on a fascinating stroll through science, medicine, and culture to shed light on the role our feet have played in the evolution of civilization.

Leonardo's Foot stretches back to the fossil record and forward to recent discoveries in evolutionary science to demonstrate that it was our feet—rather than our brains—that first distinguished us from other animal species. Whether discussing the ideal human form in classical antiquity, the impressive depth of the arching soles on the figures in Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus, an array of foot maladies and how they have affected luminaries from Lord Byron to Benjamin Franklin, or delving into the history of foot fetishism, Rinzler has created a wonderfully diverse catalog of details on our lowest extremities. This is popular science writing at its most entertaining—page after page of fascinating facts, based around the playful notion that appreciating this often overlooked part of our body is essential to understanding what it is to be human. • Rinzler is a former nutrition columnist for the New York Daily News • Author of more than twenty books on health and medicine