The biographer of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the author of The Man Who Loved China, Krakatoa, and The Meaning of Everything, Simon Winchester here considers one of the most biologically significant and culturally potent anatomical structures. "Perhaps no other biological entity retains such a grip on human psychology as does this assemblage of hollow bone, this thing of domes and sockets and jaws and of mysterious inner passageways and canals," he writes in his introduction. "People are fascinated and captivated by skulls—of humans and animals alike. We always have been and always will be." This surprisingly beautiful visual exploration of more than 300 different skulls—amphibians, birds, fish, reptiles, mammals, hominids, and the occasional two-headed cow—is illuminated by the photographer who visualized The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe.