Book Description
"Captivates the reader, answers all those puzzling questions that caused your mother (or priest or guidance counselor or gym teacher) to blame God and/or hormones....Her prediction of a more open and egalitarian order provides a compelling--and hopeful--vision for the future."
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Love at first sight...the copulatory gaze...dinner dates...jealousy... intimacy... homesexuality...infidelity...Dr.Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, explains it all in this four-million-year history of the human species. She demystifies much about romance and pairing that we tend to believe is willfull or just plain careless. She offers new explanations for why men and women fall in love, marry, and divorce, and discusses the future of sex in a way that will surprise you.
Customer Reviews:
Must read!.......2007-09-11
Digest review: Gender attraction, what we call love, is universal and timeless. This emotion is biologically instinctive down to the lowest order with the smallest brain. Everything we feel and do is evolutionary and mirrored throughout the animal kingdom. If you want to understand why you chose your mate, read this book with your lover. You will nod in agreement with every page.
Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray.......2007-03-15
I'm a fan of Helen Fisher and wish that she had written more books. Her writing is lively and clear, and her synthesis of anthropological research and ideas into a readable text is a pleasure and very helpful. Her thesis is interesting and I believe right, and she builds her case clearly and solidly. I also recommend her later book, "Why We Love", which I read first, and which was published in 2004, making it more current.
A fascinating and enjoyable book.......2006-08-02
The reviews for this book are very mixed, and perhaps if I were a scientist I might be a little harsh too. As someone with zero scientific training but a strong interest in human relations, I found the book fascinating, easy to follow and fun to read. I think that the author did a great job of introducing interesting ideas in manner that anyone can grasp. I can really recommend one of her other books too, Why we love.
Why One Can't Fight With Evolutionary History.......2006-06-19
We are wired for the thing that humans call love ... which is really a form of mania, psychosis, emotional turbulence, and all unsettling points in between. The cocktails of the emotional high ... characteristic of the first flush of romance..limerance .... heady infatuation ... romantic attraction ... and all the resulting poor judgement ... almost explain why marriage is a precarious proposition. True love in some instances may exist but in most cases it is rare. No wonder the white picket fence is really just a nicer form of prison barbed wire.
Intriguing Read.......2006-03-12
I was intrigued by the topic, cover, and title for Dr. Fisher's Anatomy of Love. From the start I was interested. I was especially drawn-in after the first chapter where "the gaze" is discussed as the "most striking human courting play." The Anatomy of Love is a detailed account of human attraction; the book attempts to explain why humans mate, marry, and stray; citing both conjectural, biological and literately evidence. Four pages into the book and the reader discovers a table of contents with such titles as "Why Adultery", "Eros", and "Fickle Passion"; any reader would have to be at least intrigued. And so confirms the theme of the book. Biology plays a role, a fundamental role, in human attraction, marriage, and even divorce. This book is not designed for those who believe solely in fate; it is not designed for romance novel readers. Dr. Fisher presents a persuasive explanation for the purpose of human attraction devoid of political correctness. She provides surprising facts, "most people think men are supposed to take the initiative in sexual advances, in practice women around the world actively begin sexual liaisons." Dr. Fisher presents an interesting, research-based account of sex and relationships, allowing the readers to decide if they believe the research.
Anatomy of Love is written as a sweeping tour of the landscape of love. Her writing style is simple, concise and thorough. Dr. Fischer provides just enough narrative and conjecture to allow this book to be more than a typical biology textbook on love and relationships. She tells the story from the point of view of a casual observer into the human psyche; supporting each discussion points with multiple forms of evidence. She does not hesitate to draw from multiple hard sciences (biology, chemistry, etc.) while combining them with historical, anthropological, or social sciences to further elaborate on her points.
I caught myself thinking back to a time when I was dating where I wished I had been more aware of the fundamental techniques explained by Dr. Fisher in an attraction game. One line described the male response to a female's first attempt at overt flirtations, "...instantly if he flinches, the pickup is over. If he withdraws, even barely, the sender may never try to touch again," (p. 28) outlines how touchy Dr. Fisher views love, attraction, and sex. It also provides a hearty example of the feeling the book gave. As I read the book I felt like I had to rush to find information, I had to watch for the clues she was leaving. I found at times Dr. Fischer did tend to make sweeping arguments, "there is a great deal of ancillary evidence to suggest that some of these patterns are universal to humankind (p. 29)." But overall I believed the points she was making. Once I finished, I wondered whether Dr. Fisher intended the reader to react to the book in much the same manner a human would in trying to figure out the anatomy of love - maybe it is all basic biology but not are we ever really consciously aware of it. I think the major strength of this book was its believability around a topic approached in countless of different genre. Overall I would recommend the read.
Average customer rating:
- An agreable discovery of facts
- The Best General Work on Homosexuality I've Encountered
- A good summary history
- Useful to inform ploarized dialogues about homosexuality
- I know the cover is ugly, but the book is pretty good.
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A Natural History of Homosexuality
Francis Mark Mondimore
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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ASIN: 0801854407 |
Book Description
A terrible sin, a gift from the gods, a mental illness, a natural human variation -- over the centuries people have defined homosexuality in all of these ways. Since the word homosexual was coined in 1869, many scientists in a variety of fields have sought to understand same-sex intimacy. Drawing on recent insights in biology and genetics, psychiatrist Francis Mondimore set out to explore the complex landscape of sexual orientation.
The result is A Natural History of Homosexuality, a generous work that synthesizes research in biology, history, psychology, and politics to explain how homosexuality has been understood and defined from ancient times until the present. Mondimore narrates tales of love and courage as well as discrimination and bigotry in settings as diverse as ancient Greece and Victorian England, early America and fin de siecle Vienna. He also tells fascinating stories about societies which accepted, incorporated, or institutionalized homosexuality into mainstream culture, stories illustrating that same-sex eroticism was often accepted as a normal aspect of human sexuality. In twentieth-century America, researchers first recognized that homosexuality might not be "pathological" when Alfred Kinsey and Evelyn Hooker conducted the first studies of sexuality not biased by preconceived notions of "normal" sexual behavior.
After exploring sexual development in the human fetus, Mondimore reviews current biological research into the nature of sexual orientation and examines recent scientific findings on the role of heredity and hormones, as well as Simon LeVay's 1991 brain studies. He then turns to a very important focus: on people and their individual experiences. He explores "what happens between childhood and adulthood in an individual that makes him or her come to identify himself or herself as having a sexual orientation." He also explains our current understanding of bisexuality and the transgender phenomena of transsexualism and transvestism.
Finally, Mondimore analyzes the circumstances of such prominent scandals as the anti-homosexual trials of Oscar Wilde and Philip von Eulenberg, and recounts the Nazi persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust. This far-reaching discussion includes a description of the ex-gay ministries and reparative therapy as well as the Stonewall riots and AIDS, ending with the emergence of gay pride and community.
"The preponderance of the scientific evidence is converging on a view which homosexual people have had of themselves for as long as any had the courage to record it," writes Mondimore. "Homosexuality is a natural, abiding, normal sexuality for some people. It is not a disease state, not simply a behavior, and not subject to change."
"Thoughtful and readable. Dr. Mondimore tells us an enormous amount about homosexuality in a lively manner. This book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who wants to be informed about this important subject."--Richard A. Isay, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, and author of Becoming Gay: The Journey to Self-Acceptance
Customer Reviews:
An agreable discovery of facts.......2005-01-10
I've just finished reading Dr. Mondimore's book. Since I am more familiar with literature and the arts there was a large spectrum I was quite ignorant of. I am Mexican and eventhough I was quite aware that the Aztecs really hated what we now call homosexuality, I was pretty ignorant of other othre views of this pehenomenon in other pre-Hispanic cultures.
Dr. Mondimore's book covers such a huge range of aspects (history, history of mentalities, medicine, psychology, sociology, politics) that I became sort of dizzy at the end. Nevertheless the author delivers all his stuff in such a lively way that once I started reading, I had great pains at stop reading.
For me the book was illuminating.
The Best General Work on Homosexuality I've Encountered.......2003-10-14
As a lesbian fascinated with lesbian and gay studies and history--and having participated in the making of some of it--I was more than interested in reading Dr. Mondimore's book. What I found was a book with overall balance, an excellent general source of information. I would recommend this book highly to heterosexuals, especially family members striving to deal with the homosexuality of a loved one. I would recommend it to the lesbian or gay seeking a better, broad-based understanding of themselves, their history, and the things which shape and influence them. Above all, I would recommend it to the person or group harboring an antihomosexual prejudice, be it from religious, cultural, or personal beliefs.
There are some criticisms of the book: his treatment of lesbianism and the particular issues affecting gay women is, for the most part, shallow. Granted, there is not as much material available, but there is more than he utilized. Whether from a desire not to offend or from other motivations, his record of the last 30 years of gay history is shallow, as is the discussion of groups vigorously opposing homosexuals, such as the "religious right". It would not have been difficult to employ more depth, particularly since these things impact and will continue to affect the civil rights, health, and well-being of the literally millions of homosexual women and men in this country. Greater stress on what is happening today is needed. The theological issues impacting the civil rights of the entire gay community are not really addressed, although the scholarship which leads to persecution of the gay community by religious groups is profoundly flawed and resource materials readily available.
These criticisms being understood, I would nevertheless highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, as a basic work which should be in any balanced library.
A good summary history.......2003-07-23
Mondimore, a practicing psychologist, has attempted to provide a low-cost, accessible, one-volume treatment of the issue of homosexuality on several bases. This is a book used in various courses at my seminary to help with background to address the often difficult-to-deal-with topic of homosexuality. Part of the Johns Hopkins series on Gay Studies, this book is credible and authoritative.
In the first half of Mondimore's book, he explores historical and biological issues. Part I deals specifically with history. He starts by stating frankly a fact most people don't realise -- the word homosexuality did not exist prior to 1869, when it appeared (in Germanic form) in a governmental pamphlet. Prior to this, there had been euphemisms and other definitive terms, but this word itself did not exist. Mondimore explores the concept, therefore, rather than instances of the word, in cultures from ancient Greece and Rome, to Native American cultures, through old Europe and into the present. One of Mondimore's shortcomings must surely be the Euro-centric focus, although early in the book he addresses African, Asian and Pacific peoples.
In Part II, Mondimore addresses the scientific/biological bases for homosexuality, both historical fictions and the extent to which modern science has (and has not) gotten in this area of research. The nature-vs.-nurture debate is here in full force. Issues of heredity, hormonal influences on the embryo, theories of brain constructions and variations, and psychological-impact on physical development are all considered here. The famous twins studies, the ideas of cooperation/competition between nature and nurture for various kinds of patterns of action, orientation, and growth are considered in sufficient detail to make the text interest for the scientific literati as well as remaining accessible to those who find scientific explanations a challenge.
In the second half of Mondimore's book, as he says, 'we will now leave behind hormones and neurons and molecules and talk about people.' Parts III and IV are devoted much more to psychological, sociological, and political issues.
Part III begins with Mondimore asking the questions What makes someone come to identify himself or herself as having sexual orientation? What is the process by which people come to identify themselves as homosexual?
Mondimore asserts that the first step in this process is the learning of labels and understanding categories of sexual orientation. Gender identity is reinforced early in communities and assumed by children, which is not necessarily sexual at this time. Some children begin to sense a differentness, which is borne out in studies of homosexual adults who have a higher-than-average tendency toward things associated with the opposite gender (play activities, etc.). Children often become aware of their own differentness as well as labels at the same time, often early in life, which can lead to prehomosexual children (a term used by Mondimore from sociologies Richard Troiden) to have a wide range of psychological reactions in trying first to understand their own feelings, which are confusing during adolescence to begin with, and then to reconcile their feelings with the expectations of family and community. Rationalisation, coping mechanisms, denials, and other reactions are discussed.
In concluding Part III, Mondimore turns to a discussion of what homosexuality is not, and issues of bisexuality and transgender identities. Bisexuality is controversial is many ways, including within the gay community, and its definition varies depending upon the frame of reference (constructionist versus essentialist). Any number of individuals who label themselves heterosexual or homosexual may under some constructs be classified as bisexual depending upon their past experiences or fantasies. Many have a difficult time accepting bisexuality but rather see it as a lack of acceptance by many homosexuals to accept that identity. Again, this tends to be different in women, who studies indicate seem to be more fluid in their sexual orientations and less categorised at the extremes of the spectrum.
In Part IV, Mondimore discusses the politics of sexual orientation issues. He begins with another brief historical survey, including the Knights Templar in the early 1300s, the trials of Oscar Wilde in England and Philip von Eulenburg in Germany in the late 1800s/early 1900s, the homosexual persecution during the Holocaust, and a brief summation of the aftermath, making some parallels to modern day legal statutes and the potential for persecution in the present.
Then Mondimore turns to a discussion of ex-Gay ministries and programs, such as Exodus, Homosexuals Anonymous, Love in Action, the organisation NARTH and the various issues such organisation have. Mondimore discounts the effectiveness and often the motivations behind these organisations, comparing their tactics to cults which use indoctrination and isolation, and playing often upon the internal insecurities of the individuals who come to them for help. Reparative therapy is a controversial issue not only among the gay community but also among the medical/therapeutic community who view currently their methods and theories with suspicion.
Mondimore in conclusion addresses many unanswered questions, particularly how these issues relate to other cultures and communities, how individuals in those communities differ in their development, precisely how homosexuals are a minority (in the legal/political sense) if indeed they are.
Mondimore does a good job providing an overview of the complexity of issues that surround the history and current situation and study of homosexuality. I found myself at many points wanting more details, but the point of the book explicitly stated in the preface was to be a survey. Mondimore's bias against certain points of view is apparent, particularly in his discussions of psychiatry/psychology, both the politics and the therapies, and, as Mondimore is a clinical psychiatrist, it makes sense that this would be very important to him.
Useful to inform ploarized dialogues about homosexuality.......1999-03-31
Mondimore's book helps shed light on a subject where more heat than light is perennially generated. As a pastor who deals with the issue and needed basic information to inform my views, Mondimore does a valuable service for readers looking to research the often misinformed and misunderstood issues around homosexuality. The book follows a well thought out sequence and it is clearly written. Most valuable are the sections on the history, anthropology and sexual biology of homosexuality. As the church wrestles with this topic --from an often uninformed and polarized position, Mondimore's book can be a useful reference tool to explore and dialogue about the issues.
I know the cover is ugly, but the book is pretty good........1998-05-10
I had to write a book report for Biology class and I thought this was the least boring choice on the list of acceptable books. When I got my hands on it, though, it looked so nasty, old, and clinical that I wasn't too eager to settle down and read it.
Well, it turns out the author broke the book into sections focused on particular topics, such as historical, social, and biological points of view, so that you don't get overwhelmed. Inside each topic, there are a number of sections (like for biological analysis: effects of levels of particular hormones reaching the fetus during embryonic development, retrospective and prospective studies, hormonal organizing, and tests on lab animals) so you can get at exactly what you're into.
Mondimore also makes connections from one topic to the next, and building this way makes it flow well and somewhat organizes it all as it spills into your head.
Overall, it's one of the better all-in-one overview books, and the author is queer but presents his material objectively, so if you're trying to pick out a book on this topic, I'd recommend this feller.
Average customer rating:
- Historical Evidence that Humans have been Craving Insanity a Long Long LONG Time
- "LOVE IS THE GREAT INTANGIBLE......."
- Counting the ways of the heart.
- clear and readable
- A true treasure & a staple of your library
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A Natural History Of Love
Diane Ackerman
Manufacturer: Vintage
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'The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures Among Bats, Penguins, Crocodilians, and Whales
ASIN: 0679761837
Release Date: 1995-02-21 |
Book Description
The bestselling author of A Natural History of the Senses now explores the allure of adultery, the appeal of aphrodisiacs, and the cult of the kiss. Enchantingly written and stunningly informed, this "audaciously brilliant romp through the world of romantic love" (Washington Post Book World) is the next best thing to love itself.
Customer Reviews:
Historical Evidence that Humans have been Craving Insanity a Long Long LONG Time.......2006-06-02
A chronicle of just how insane the human species gets when their brain gets a serving of emotional cocaine known as the illusion of romantic love. People are just the love object. The emotions that have one acting out-of-the ordinary are outcomes of a brain on drugs.... aka temporary insanity. The supposed yearning humans often feel are simple withdrawal symptoms akin to those being weened off morphine.
What's love got to do with it? NOTHING!
"LOVE IS THE GREAT INTANGIBLE.......".......2005-05-11
Lorenz Hart wrote, "I wish I were in love again." "Let's do it, let's fall in love," advised Cole Porter. No other subject has inspired as many songs, poems, books or plays as ever appealing, sometimes elusive love. And here is Diane Ackerman to tell us all about it.
"Love is the great intangible" is the way this volume begins, and it is equally unfathomable after we finish reading, but there's much information and great good fun in between. Beginning with the history of love in ancient Egypt through Rome, the Middle Ages and up to the present, the author explores the historical, cultural and biological roots of that which makes the world go round.
Rich with insights into traditions and little known facts, "Love's Customs" may well be one of the most fascinating chapters. For instance, it was the medieval Italians who favored diamond rings because "of their superstition that diamonds were created from the flames of love." Soldiers of ancient Sparta hosted the first stag parties. The white wedding dress was first won by Anne of Brittany in 1499 when she married Louis XII of France. Both bride and groom wore a blue band around the bottom of their wedding garments in biblical times, which is where the idea of the bride's "something blue" originated.
"A Natural History of Love" is a rare literary work in that it is both a well researched scholarly text, terrific reading, and offers an insight that probably applies to each one of us.
- Gail Cooke
Counting the ways of the heart........2003-11-08
"We have the great fortune to live on a planet abounding with humans, plants, and animals," poet Diane Ackerman (A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES, 1990), writes in her Introduction to this book; "and I often marvel at the strange tasks evolution sets them. Of all the errands life seems to be running, of all the mysteries that enchant us, love is my favorite" (p. xxiii). Once again demonstrating her talent for blending the disciplines of history, anthropology, psychology, literature and natural science, Ackerman turns her attention here to the subject of love, "the great intangible" (p. xvii). In counting the ways of the heart, she reveals through a historical survey of Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, and Modern times that our attitudes about love are truly as old as the pyramids, and she also examines the evolution, psychology, and chemistry of love, the differences between men and women when it comes to love, monogamy and adultery, love-thwarted attachments, and aphrodisiacs and eroticism. While it may not live up to the standard Ackerman set in A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES, in addressing what it means to love from a variety of different perspectives, this book is nevertheless quite fascinating.
G. Merritt
clear and readable.......2003-05-31
I read this to be entertained, and I was. Like her other books, this one was clearly written, easy on the eyes, clever, witty, and packed with interesting out-of-the-way information. It's a pleasant and well-composed discourse through the history of romantic love in the West. If you come to it from that point of view, you might like it.
If a criterion of a good read is that the author inspires in you some of the emotions she describes, then most of the book succeeded for me: at times I wondered what she'd be like on a date....
Parts of the book get into human instincts. While there's evidence for these--the rooting instinct in babies, for instance--we need to bear in mind that human instincts are heavily modified by time, place, and personality. The maternal instinct, for example, is painted in ideal colors: the loving mother mirroring her baby. We've all seen that; but some of us have also met mothers who hate their children (or, worse, feel indifferent toward them) and whose maternal instinct never sees the daylight. We shouldn't follow Freud's old 19th Century slippage from psychology into biology unless we're prepared to ignore the social and spiritual roots of human motivation.
I appreciate the author's knack for collecting a lot of information on a given topic, then giving us the best fruits of her learnings in breezy and often poetic language.
A true treasure & a staple of your library.......2002-04-09
This book is amazing. If you haven't read Ackerman before, I suggest starting with _A Natural History of the Senses_. Then read this book. Ackerman is a very talented writer. Even if the subject isn't entirely interesting, her words and their rhythms are. This subject, however, is very interesting. Ackerman muses on myths (such as Dido) and history (such as Napoleon and Josephine), but also explores instincts and preferences (why women love horses and the influence of pheromones). This book is romantic, historical, sexual, poetic, challenging, and completely beautiful.
Book Description
Winner of the Ludwik Fleck Book Prize, Society for Social Studies of Science, 1995
"Schiebinger lays bare the cultural narratives that mix so easily with science. They are at the same time hilarious and eerie, silly and profoundly disturbing. Schiebinger is brilliant in showing how tales of gender and race are told in other guises."—Thomas Laqueur, author of Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud
"[Nature's Body] is so wonderfully humorous and is done with such careful attention to detail, the reader cannot help but see the profound implications of the history of science for modern science. Indispensable for all anthropologists, historians, philosophers, and practitioners of science."—Emily Martin, author of The Woman in the Body
Eighteenth-century natural historians created a peculiar, and peculiarly durable, vision of nature—one that embodied the sexual and racial tensions of that era. When plants were found to reproduce sexually, eighteenth-century botanists ascribed to them passionate relations, polyandrous marriages, and suicidal incest, and accounts of steamy plant sex began to infiltrate the botanical literature of the day. Naturalists also turned their attention to the great apes just becoming known to eighteenth-century Europeans, clothing the females in silk vestments and training them to sip tea with the modest demeanor of English matrons, while imagining the males of the species fully capable of ravishing women.
Written with humor and meticulous detail, Nature's Body draws on these and other examples to uncover the ways in which assumptions about gender, sex, and race have shaped scientific explanations of nature. Schiebinger offers a rich cultural history of science and a timely and passionate argument that science must be restructured in order to get it right.
Customer Reviews:
an excellent reminder for any scientist.......1998-01-06
Being this my first introduction into gender studies to say nothing of gender's role in the making of modern science, I was a bit worried I wouldn't completely grasp the concepts presented in the book. However, Schiebinger gives excellent examples and rational explanations on how who does science affects what is done in science.
Any student should be aware of the history of his or field of interest and how it affected its development. Schiebinger's books is an intriguing resource for any student of systematics, race, or biology in general for its account of 17th and 18th century science. In a world that is dictated so much by science, it also serves as an excellent reminder of why the scientific community should be ever so aware of how its members influences its results.
Book Description
Everything is sexual. Every joke is dirt, every pun a double entendre, every four letter word a part of the anatomy. Ads and magazine covers are embellished with full breasts and bulging pecs. And we all know which sites are making money on the Internet. Humans are obsessed with sex. But why? And what happens to us when we behave sexually?In Sex: The Natural History, Joann Rodgers unearths both the roots of our sexual nature and the outcomes of our primal urges. Rodgers explains what it is that makes us male and female in the first place, and than explores the biology and physiology of flirtation, love, courtship, intercourse, fidelity, parenting, and nurturing. Drawing on a wide range of evidence from the laboratory to the natural world she argues that every aspect and kind of sexual behavior that exists today can be seen as an evolutionary and biological response to our powerful need to survive.And significantly, Rodgers shows that "the battle of the sexes," is really a game of one-upmanship that is never intended to be won. The true purpose of our sexual biology is to get two strangers to a point of cooperation that enables them to bond, parent, nurture and maintain intimate relationships. The sexual strategies employed by men and women may be different but they are ultimately complementary, not antagonistic.Presenting a view of sex that readers may not recognize--but won't soon forgetSex: The Natural History illuminates one of the most powerful, and often misunderstood, aspects of human existence.
Customer Reviews:
uncontroversial.......2005-10-12
The book explains why we know so little about sex then goes on to teach a great deal about sex. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone curious about sex and having the desire to read a book that at times is textbookish.
The theories presented are mainstream 1990-2000 and as uncontroversial as you can get. She mentions at times the more controversial theories, such as the application of Red Queen to humans, but always in context and with forwarning that the theory is interesting, but debate exists.
Some theories are a bit dated, as any pop book covering any research subject is, so I'd like to see her fix the three errors I found and update the book a bit. I'd read the sequel!
It's a book you can give your teenager without fear that they will get some wierd misapplied ideas. They will also come away from the book with a rather comprehensive understanding of a complex topic that you might find startling.
Great Info, but a difficult read for those who don't know tons about the biosciences.......2005-08-16
How do I say this? I loved this book and I hated it. I am a scientist, but the book was written in a dryer style than many scientific papers I have read and it is about 20x as long. I think the book is worth reading, because it has some really fascinating information in it and if you think critically about the information presented, it can be very enlightening about the complexities of our brains, bodies, behaviors and how they come together to influence one of my favorite hobbies (sex). However, be prepared to read this book in small snippets, that is unless you can keep long lists of hormone, glands and other scientific names straight in your head.
Well worth the read in the end...four months after I started it.
Entertaining and Didactic Romp about Sex........2005-01-29
Sex. Sex. Sex. Now that I've got your attention, Joann Ellison Rodgers, winner of the Lasker Award for medical journalism, has authored "Sex: A Natural History."
The topic is stripped down. The biology, genetics, psychology, and so on of sex are examined. Why do men have a propensity for sleep after an orgasm? Why is the brain the engine of sex? How does smell play a part in a woman's choice of a mate?
Rodgers discusses numerous theories. Scientific studies on animals, insects and humans are used frequently. Careful attention and rereads are par for the course for the lay person. Some of the text seems more at home in medical journals. However, she sustains our attention with humor and an upbeat tone.
Getting to "yes" with the right people is an amazingly more subtle and complex process than one would imagine. Rodgers carefully examines the many aspects that entail sex: attraction, flirtation, arousal, love, and fidelity. The author's scientific treatise on sex is not dumbed down and still remains accessible. At times, the countless studies of fruit flies, monkeys and other hapless creatures went overboard for my taste. Nevertheless, the data presented confirms the notion that sex coevolved through cooperation, not conflict.
In conclusion, Rodgers successfully showcases sex and its evolutionary wonders. But she admits, "No, we don't know (yet) exactly why sex evolved, or why there are thorns among the roses." Attempting to answer questions about the history of sex is akin to untying the Gordian knot. Some questions may remain unanswered for awhile or perhaps forever. Overall the romp through "Sex" was didactic and entertaining.
Bohdan Kot
Good Info.......2003-11-25
This Book is not meant to be an incredible mind bending guide, or an extremely dull informative textbook. Instead this is a book in the middle of both extremes, it provides interesting information without being boring about the evolutionary process sex has take over history. This book is not some Hopper guide to great sex, but rather an interesting historical/scientific view of sex. For those who are interested in love, touch, relationships, and sex.
Evolutionary point of view.......2002-05-10
Great book, highly recommend; Evolutionary history of sex. If you want to know why things work the way they work. A book you might want to own instead of borrowing in the library. Open in the middle and read any chapter....
Book Description
Are they needed? To be sure. The Darwinian industry, industrious though it is, has failed to provide texts of more than a handful of Darwin's books. If you want to know what Darwin said about barnacles (still an essential reference to cirripedists, apart from any historical importance) you are forced to search shelves, or wait while someone does it for you; some have been in print for a century; various reprints have appeared and since vanished."
—Eric Korn,Times Literary Supplement
Charles Robert Darwin (1880-1882) has been widely recognized since his own time as one of the most influential writers in the history of Western thought. His books were widely read by specialists and the general public, and his influence had been extended by almost continuous public debate over the last 130 years. New York University Press' edition makes it possible for the first time to review Darwin's public literary output as a whole, plus his scientific journal articles, his private notebooks, and his correspondence.
This is the first complete edition containing all of Darwin's published books, featuring definitive texts recording original paginations with Darwin's indexes retained. All illustrations and plates are presented, inclucing 82 color plates of birds and mammals and several folding maps and plates. The set also features a general introduction and index, and textural introductions in each volume.
Customer Reviews:
defies common sense.......2007-07-14
This book is totally boring and idiotic.
Only a fool would believe that our ancestors were gorillas. If you believe that we descended from gorillas and/or lizards, you probably also believe that The Earth revolves around the sun.
The Earth is stationary, just like it seems. The sun revolves around The Earth, just like the moon (except hotter). Use your noodle. It's common sense.
The Lord created The Earth (and the heavens) out of sawdust, clay, dinosaur bones, and mud. He did so in six days, and slept on the seventh day. This occurred 6000 or 7000 years ago. Evolution could not have occurred in such a short period of time.
Wake up, you've been duped.
Freed our minds for relativity.......2006-12-12
Just as "Origin of Species is misunderstood, I believe "Descent" to be also, although the latter is a more entertaining read. "Descent" fails to concentrate on man without deviating. It is a book of observations and study. It concentrates on how animal life, has, by sexual selection, brought forth the variety in the species we see today, through millions of years. Darwin covered his beloved pigeons in depth in "Origins" and continues at length on many other bird species in "Descent". I agree with him that all the different types of birds we see today probably came from one ancestor of the pigeon. This is called variation of kind. We see this in just about every living creature and flora. The problem arises when the next step is taken, the rise of one species turning into another (reptile to bird). Throughout the book Darwin does admit to this fact, but he still maintains that it must be, with much difficulty. He does hint to nature having some "power of thought", where does this come from? How does nature make these choices? Why did Darwin focus so on the black tribes: their practices, looks, sexuality, if he did not believe them a lower race? Of course he only hints at this, and his belief of evolving from apes is scant, but obvious. Does not the use of race to distinguish only separate? His theory on idiots as somehow lower is also disturbing. And what of the rudimentary parts and vestigial organs. As we progress in our scientific study we understand more on their uses, and there may be much we will never understand. In the end he gives a poor argument, and a convoluted book.
There is no doubt there is a tremendous amount of work that went into his book. It is a difficult and painful read, although there are many interesting and detailed observations. One does need to know his enemy. Darwin is not the originator of "evolution." There are many who came before him, since the dawn of time. He was influenced by numerous men of his time, some being more radical. Darwin was nothing new, he just maid it "hip." What he started has turned into the secular humanism the world has adopted. I don't think he meant for this disease to spread like it has. From his writings I understand him as an agnostic, but doubtful. I believed he struggled with the possibly of a deist. It is safe to say it was his only ambition till his dying day to prove "evolution" as proof of our existence. What of the missing fossil record?, he new they would be found. He was a confusing man.
150 years later and there still has been no intermediate fossils found to prove the case. In fact we are discovering more that validates creation.
Why don't we see a scale or a feather erupt occasionally on man? Is it because it is not in our DNA, and never was?
The theory of evolution caused Darwin to loose his faith and his experience has been repeated in countless lives. Evolution is an acid that eats away at the mind, a cancer.
One only needs to open the pages to Michael Behe's book, "Darwin's Black Box", to understand the futility of the evolutionary theory. The engines of life at the molecular level are so complex that there leaves no other possibility than a creator of the universe. There should be no excuse.
Wish you well
Scott
Masterpiece or wonder?.......2004-07-30
While Darwin's theory of natural selection was accepted in the 1930s, Darwin's theory of sexual selection remains controversial. In Ernst Mayr's recent What is Evolution? Darwin's theory of sexual selection receives about two paragraphs. By comparison, Darwin considered sexual selection important enough to receive an equal number of pages as he devoted to his theory of natural selection. 130 years later, he's still probably the only evolutionary theorist to make this judgement. Equally, one must wonder that if Darwin had not come up with the idea of sexual selection, would anyone else have done so?
This book is not merely revolutionary on a theoretical basis, but also in its thoughts on animals - including humans. 100 years before Jane Goodall `discovers' chimpanzees using tools, Darwin devotes more than a page to animals using tools. More than 110 years before vets begin to give dogs prozac, Darwin argues that dogs have a sense of humour. His views on animals raises them higher than any modern theorist: his views on humans lowers them to where they are - animals, and thus the title.
130 years later, this book is still radical. It is probably the most significant alteration to our understanding of ourselves since Copernicus. Its contents, with its stark views on human violence, continues to make aetheists uneasy. The book is very readable, and Darwin's clarity, sincerity and incisiveness places him above all modern writers. Revolutionary, thoughtful, and warm, it remains more a wonder than a masterpiece.
Thought police.......2003-10-18
Darwin operated in a thought world completely unacceptable to the "politically correct" speech/thought codes found on most college/university campuses today. If one subscribes to Darwinian or neo-Darwinian ideas, one has to wonder what new "great ideas" we are missing out on today, now that the politically correct thought police have taken over the media, education, and popular entertainment establishments--effictively suppressing the sort of thought that nurtured Darwin's "scientific" speculations.
True Darwinism.......2002-11-17
In the beginning of the book, you will find a sort of definition of Natural Selection, which is about all the space Darwin spends on formulating his hypothesis.
"Do the races or species of men, whichever term may be applied, encroach on and replace one another, so that some finally become extinct? We shall see that all these questions, as indeed is obvious in respect to most of them, must be answered in the affirmative, in the same manner as with the lower animals."
On about 15 occasions later in the book he writes about how this selective encroachment of human races occurs, most signicicantly when writing that:
"Extinction follows chiefly from the competition of tribe with tribe, and race with race. (.....) and when of two adjoining tribes one becomes less numerous and less powerful than the other, the contest is soon settled by war, slaughter, cannibalism, slavery, and absorption."
Racial and tribal genocide is the chief operator in shaping humans as they are today from an apelike progenitor, according to Darwin.
This work is not up to scratch compared to classics of biological science from the same timeperiod, such as Mendel's "Versuche". This work is more appropiately read together with Haecekel's "Natural Creation History" (Naturliche Schopfungsgeschichte), which Darwin profusely praises in the beginning of his book.
Both these works from Haeckel and Darwin carry decidedly racist and generally judgemental content. Generally judgemental in continuously talking about higher and lower in an expressely moral way. For instance Darwin finds it neccessary to assert what the highest state of morality is for a person, and elsewhere he urges people in any way "inferior" not to marry.
The science is shoddy, especially the formulation is seriously lacking. The moral judgementalism, which makes up a great deal of the book, is generally coarse and without significant emotion showing through.
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Bellybuttons are Navels (Young Readers Series)
Mark Schoen , and
M. J. Quay
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0879755857 |
Book Description
Beyond the Natural Body presents an episode in the history of life sciences that is essential to our current understanding of sex and the body and the relations between gender and science. Since the early decades of this century, the notion of the hormonally-constructed body has become the dominant mode of conceptualizing bodies, particularly female bodies, to such an extent that we now assume that it is a natural phenomenon. This book challenges the idea that there is such as thing as a "natural" body, and demonstrates that it is the process by which scientific claims achieve universal status that constructs such discourses as natural facts.
Beyond the Natural Body tells the fascinating story of scientists' search for the many tons of ovaries, testes and urine that were required in experiments to develop the hormonal body concept. It traces the origins of sex hormones and follows their development through mass-production as drugs to their eventual transformation into the contraceptive pill. Nelly Oudshoorn argues that the power to control sex and the body is not restricted to the domain of texts and ideologies. In addition, she discusses the chasm that exists between the scientific ideal of universal knowledge and the feminist recognition of cross-cultural differences among women, making the case for localized and user-specific applications of science and technology.
Customer Reviews:
Biology as cultural history.......1997-02-03
This book is about the social construction of gender and body in biology. Oudshoorn shows how a Victorian idé fixe about finding the "natural" source of gender differences in order to maintain them led to the "discovery" of hormones such as estrogen and adrenaline and to their classification as "sex" hormones. She goes on to show how the availability of materials for hormone extraction and testing, the entrance of various professions and institutions into those activities, and the availability of (mostly female) bodies for clinical experimentation steered the development of those hormones into clinical products such as The Pill.
Since Oudshoorn's analysis is about every body, I as a reader can experience it as being about my own body. For instance: I suffer from an autoimmune disease which affects many parts of the body -- intestines, skin, skeleton, eyes. Symptoms vary with stress levels and with the menstrual cycle. According to the hormonal concept of the body, this implies that the course of my disease is steered by "sex" hormones, the hormones that regulate fertility and secondary sex traits. But my experience also implies that these so-called "sex" hormones also are stress hormones, immune system hormones, digestive tract hormones, etc. Thus it is fascinating for me to read Oudshoorn's account of how the sexualized concept of these hormones and the hormonalized concept of the gendered body emerged and came to preclude other conceptualizations. Having read that account, I have a new understanding of why medicine is institutionalized such that my disease and therefore my body as a patient fall within the purview of gastro-enterology, while the hormones which seem to steer the disease fall within the purview of gynecology. I had wondered why neither my gastro-sugeon nor my gynecologist have been able to tell me what effects hormone therapies might have on the course of the disease, and although that is not a question Oudshoorn sets out to answer in Beyond the Natural Body, answer it she does.
I have also read the book from the perspective of a fellow researcher and teacher in the social study of science and technology. Oudshoorn's book is fast becoming an important resource in this field. Here are four good reasons to buy it:
1) The gendered hormonal concept of the body is currently part of the hegemonic set of views in biology and medicine. This entails that many (all?) of us, like myself, are personally confronted by practices and institutions which derive from and serve to maintain the concept. The knowledge, practices, and institutions of the hormonal body are full of frustrating gaps and perplexing inconsistencies. As a material, historical, socio-political map of the hormonal body concept, Oudshoorn's book can perhaps help us deal with these gaps and inconsistencies, perhaps help us steer the further development of the hormonal body concept according to our interests as lived bodies.
2) In extension of the book's empirical arguments, there are a number of important theoretical arguments -- e.g. the role of materiality in socio-technical networks, or the mechanisms for stability and instability of prescientific concepts as they are drawn into science. These and other theoretical issues are important to those who would study the practice and culture of science, not least because they bridge disciplinary boundaries in the field.
3) The book is extremely well written. While the historical documentation is thorough and the analysis subtle and complex, the book is still a strikingly smooth and easy read. This is one of the few books of solid academic history I have found to be as engaging as a popular ethnography, or even a good mystery novel. I expect that it will prove to be a good teaching text at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
4) Another aspect of the style of Oudshoorn's writing is the emotional distance she maintains to the many potentially politically incendiary issues in the history of (so-called) sex hormones. One might think that such a style would render the text politically impotent. Not so. I cannot say how others will react, but I for one found the text all the more politically motivating on three counts. One is that the rage I felt over some of these issues I felt as my own, not as an emotion imposed on me by the author. The second is that I felt that rage being directed away from the windmills of my own hasty assumptions and towards the forces which Oudshoorn convincingly documented were at work. The third is that those first two made the book an exciting model for politically effective academic writing based on constructivist theories, a project which some have deemed futile but which Oudshoorn shows to be eminently worth the effort.
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Snowshoes and Spotted Dick: Letters from a Wilderness Dweller
Chris Czajkowski
Manufacturer: Harbour Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Diary of a Wilderness Dweller
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Cabin at Singing River
ASIN: 1550172794 |
Book Description
Chris Czajkowski chose to build her life and small ecotourism business on the shore of a high-altitude lake near the southern tip of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. It is a formidable landscape of lake-dotted alpine plateaus abutting the glacier-swathed backbone of the central Coast Range.
Snowshoes and Spotted Dick describes Czajkowski's experiences as she builds her fourth cabin in the wilderness with hand tools, two chainsaws, an Alaskan Mill and some helpful friends. One of her helpers is Nick Berwain, a quiet but literary young German who corresponds with Czajkowski long after his return home.
In these fascinating letters to Berwain, Czajkowski details her often solitary life: how she breaks trails by snowshoe with her two pack dogs, encounters grizzly bears, builds a custom stone oven and learns how to use it to bake bread -and spotted dick, a traditional English steamed pudding. The letters also chronicle Czajkowski's challenges and triumphs as she tries to finish her cabin. Food and building supplies must be flown in and Czajkowski must hike more than 30 kilometres to the nearest road to lead guiding trips and to attend craft fairs and book promotions to supplement her income.
Lyrically written, Snowshoes and Spotted Dick provides a close look at a simpler way of life that most of us only dream about, one that cleaves to nature with beauty, resilience and independence.
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Natural History of Love, The
Morton Hunt
Manufacturer: Anchor
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Binding: Paperback
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A Natural History Of Love
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The Philosophy of (Erotic) Love
ASIN: 0385470509
Release Date: 1994-04-01 |
Book Description
A wide-ranging, deep-probing history of what love has meant in the Western world. Primarily a history of emotional relationships between the sexes, it is for everyone who seeks a deeper understanding of the bond that unites men and women.
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