Leonardo's Foot: How 10 Toes, 52 Bones, and 66 Muscles Shaped the Human World

216 Pages·2013·3.1 MB·English

by  Carol Ann Rinzler

LEONARDO’S FOOT
HOW 10 TOES, 52 BONES, AND 66 MUSCLES
SHAPED THE HUMAN WORLD
LEONARDO’S FOOT
HOW 10 TOES, 52 BONES, AND 66
MUSCLES
SHAPED THE HUMAN WORLD
CAROL ANN RINZLER
BELLEVUE LITERARY PRESS
New York
First published in the United States in 2013 by Bellevue Literary Press, New York FOR INFORMATION
CONTACT: Bellevue Literary Press NYU School of Medicine
550 First Avenue
OBV A612
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 2013 by Carol Ann Rinzler All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or
any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a print,
online, or broadcast review.
Bellevue Literary Press would like to thank all its generous donors—individuals and foundations—for their
support.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rinzler, Carol Ann.
Leonardo’s foot : how 10 toes, 52 bones, and 66 muscles shaped the human world / Carol Ann Rinzler. —
1st ed.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-934137-63-5
I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Anthropology, Physical—history—Popular Works. 2. Biological Evolution--Popular Works. 3.
Foot—Popular Works. 4. History of Medicine—Popular Works. GN 50.4]
QP34.5
612—dc23
2013004519
Book design and type formatting by Mulberry Tree Press, Inc. Manufactured in the United States of
America First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
“The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.”
Leonardo da Vinci, The Notebooks (c. 1508–1518)
For
Perry Luntz
MARCH 9, 1927–APRIL 13, 2009
and
Patricia Marie Dolan
MAY 6, 1939–NOVEMBER 15, 2011
CONTENTS
Illustrations
Introduction
1 Destiny
From there to here
The anthropology of an upright posture
Determining destiny
The architecture of the biped body
2 Disability
First impressions, catalogues, and curiosities
Cruel and unusual cures
Entering the genome
3 Difference
Creating the curve
The discriminating drama of the different foot
Fixing or not fixing the no-problem problem
Foot rules and rulers
4 Diet
Naming, not taming, the beast
Podiatric protein problems
Power, prevention, and sexual prowess
Gout’s white shoe fraternity
Cutting corns and cultivating customers
Safe, effective—and expensive
5 Desire
The heart wants what the nose knows
Do gods have feet?
Uncovering what’s inside
Objects of desire
Building the perfect foot
Appendix: Pais, ped, pod
Sources and Bibliography
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
Koala hand with two thumbs vs. foot with one thumb.
Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1490.
Human skull, Gray’s Anatomy, 1918.
Ape and human spines, courtesy of Joe Gannon, Mulberry Tree Press, Inc.
Ape and human dental arch, from Kimball’s Biology Pages, http://biology-
pages.info.
Frontispiece, Les Oeuvres de M. Ambroise Paré, 1585
Human Foot, Gray’s Anatomy, 1918.
The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, 1486.
In the Dance Studio, Edgar Degas, c. 1897.
Footprint of the Buddha, c. 1st century.
The great god Pan, A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, Dr. Oskar Seyffert,
1902.
Cartoon of Jews extracting Christian blood to be used in religious ritual, Der
Sturmer, 1934.
Map of Negro Foot, Hanover County, Virginia. U.S. Department of the Interior.
Advertisement for Dr. Scholl’s “Foot-Eazer,” The Literary Digest, April 1912.