How Sex Works: Why We Look, Smell, Taste, Feel, and Act the Way We Do
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
“Read this book and discover sex again, but from a scientific perspective, and see why it evolved. It’s almost as much fun, and needs less energy.”
— Peter Macinnis, author of 100 Discoveries: The Greatest Breakthroughs in History
"How Sex Works manages to inject science writing with the prurient thrill of a gossip rag."
—O magazine
Medical maverick and New York Times bestselling author of Survival of the Sickest Dr. Sharon Moalem presents an insightful and engaging voyage through the surprising history and evolution of sexual reproduction. Fans of Freakonomics, Blink, You: The Owner’s Manual, and Why Do Men Have Nipples will find many engaging insights in How Sex Works.
Dr. Sharon Moalem
Dr. Sharon Moalem is an award-winning neurologist and evolutionary biologist, with a PhD in human physiology. His research brings evolution, genetics, biology, and medicine together to explain how the body works in new and fascinating ways. He and his work have been featured on CNN, in the New York Times, on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, on Today, and in magazines such as New Scientist, Elle, and Martha Stewart's Body + Soul. Dr. Moalem's first book was the New York Times bestseller Survival of the Sickest. He lives in New York City.
Related to How Sex Works
Related ebooks
All You Wanted to Know About Sex Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1 The Evolution of Modesty; The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity; Auto-Erotism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Men Want: Your guide to incredible, exhilarating, sensational sex Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Sexual Health and Erotic Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sex Myth: The Gap Between Our Fantasies and Reality Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This Is Your Brain On Sex: The Science Behind the Search for Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Coitus Chronicles: My Quest for Sex, Love, and Orgasms Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sex Detox: Recharge Desire. Revitalize Intimacy. Rejuvenate Your Love Life. Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Get on Top: Of Your Pleasure, Sexuality & Wellness: A Vagina Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Up Your Life: The Mind-Blowing Path to True Intimacy, Healing, and Hope Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSexually Shy: The Inhibited Woman's Guide To Good Sex Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Vagina Book: An Owner's Manual for Taking Care of Your Down There Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What's Up Down There?: Questions You'd Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More Sex, Better Sex Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pleasure from the Mister: Sex Secrets for Unbridled Passion Inspired by the Bestselling Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Betty Dodson Bodysex Basics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Coming Soon: Great Orgasms and Better Sex at Your Fingertips Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSex Plus: Learning, Loving, and Enjoying Your Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Ed: A Guide for Adults Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Living An Orgasmic Life: Heal Yourself and Awaken Your Pleasure (Valentines day gift for him) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pucker Up: The New and Naughty Guide to Being Great in Bed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is How You Vagina: All About Your Vajayjay and Why You Probably Shouldn't Call it That Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTalk Sexy to the One You Love: (And Drive Each Other Wild in Bed) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the F*cking Mistakes: A Guide to Sex, Love, and Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Everything Orgasm Book: The all-you-need guide to the most satisfying sex you'll ever have Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
Biology For You
Anatomy and Physiology For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dopamine Detox: Biohacking Your Way To Better Focus, Greater Happiness, and Peak Performance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nursing Anatomy & Physiology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anatomy 101: From Muscles and Bones to Organs and Systems, Your Guide to How the Human Body Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain: A User's Guide: 100 Things You Never Knew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness, and Save the Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Will Make You Smarter: 150 New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peptide Protocols: Volume One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Obesity Code: the bestselling guide to unlocking the secrets of weight loss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Winner Effect: The Neuroscience of Success and Failure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All That Remains: A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Genius Kitchen: Over 100 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Make Your Brain Sharp, Body Strong, and Taste Buds Happy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Crack In Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trouble With Testosterone: And Other Essays On The Biology Of The Human Predi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman: An Intimate Geography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ (Revised Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"Cause Unknown": The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 & 2022 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for How Sex Works
50 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Birds do it, bees do it, but why do humans do it? In this wide-ranging look at the evolutionary reasons for sex, physiologist and evolutionary biologist Moalem says that it's all about shuffling the gene pool and getting rid of any unwelcome guests, such as viruses, that may have latched onto human DNA. But why is one particular person attracted to another? Moalem relays the latest research showing that smell plays a very important role in attraction, and that even our genes may influence one's smell, and thus a person's desirability, to others. Scientists have found that women tend to be attracted to different types of men at different points in their ovulation cycles (dark and handsome hunks at their height; sensitive, care-giving types at other times). Moalem (Survival of the Sickest) whizzes through his discussion of homosexuality, neglecting angles that would have added to the book, but readers will find thought-provoking material in his chapter on differences in sexual anatomy and on how chromosomes and body parts aren't always what we expect them to be. Moalem writes fluidly for the general reader, and when he necessarily goes into graphic detail, he does it gracefully.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I was very surprised by how much information is in this book. The author, Dr. Moalem does not dwell on one topic for long. Because of this, the book kept my interest. Some of the information shocked me (not in a bad way, just I never heard of it), and I was so surprised I looked it up the internet to confirm (or deny) his research.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Terribly written and disorganized. The book is full of scattered 'facts' and speculation. While some of the information is interesting (and practical), the overall presentation is very poor.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It is an awsome book filled with supported science explanations
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5b
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And here I was hoping it would be more like a guidebook. Author Sharon Moalem (who is a he, despite the name) has written what could be considered an update to Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask. There a lot more evolutionary psychology and biology than there was in EYAWTKASBWATA, though. Moalem isn’t presenting his own research, but reviewing studies from a lot of other authors. Full of interesting little results (the age of puberty in girls depends on the amount of hip fat; the first self-service items in American drug stores were menstrual pads (supposedly because women were too embarrassed to ask a male clerk for them, and then leading to a lot of other self-service items); there are at least 20 different theories attempting to explain female orgasm) but also more detailed discussions of things like intersex conditions. I noticed a couple of things that bear on previous reviews.
Potential evolutionary explanations for male homosexuality: It seems that one study showed female relatives of gay men had more offspring than average women. The authors suggests – not quite so bluntly – that there was a heritable factor that made carriers want to have lots of sex with men – regardless of the carrier’s gender. That could at least partially explain the evolutionary puzzle of homosexuality; there are enough females with the allele to overwhelm nonbreeding male carriers. Could be; other explanations possible.
Athletes with intersex conditions. Moalem lists a couple of examples:
Indian runner Santhi Soundarajan’s was disqualified in 2006 for having (according to anonymous rumor) “more Y chromosomes than allowed”. Moalem doesn’t have further details but notes that Soundarajan had passed many previous sex determination tests. He speculates that the previous tests were limited to physical genital inspection, and that Soundarajan has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. An earlier (1985) case was Spanish hurdler Maria José Martinez-Patiño, who turned out to have Y chromosomes and AIS. Interestingly, it isn’t clear if AIS would necessarily give you an advantage in women’s athletic competitions; there’s enough variety in expression that AIS people range from externally indistinguishable from 46XX women to externally indistinguishable from 46XY men (despite all having 46XY karotypes).
In a chapter on The Pill, Moalem notes that it has an interesting effect on women’s odor preferences. Studies where women sniffed used men’s clothing (usually called “t-shirt” studies) found that women preferred the scent of men whose immune system genetics differed from their own (the evolutionary idea here being that women would seek mates in “outgroups” rather than among their own group, to avoid inbreeding). Women on The Pill, OTOH, preferred the scent of men with similar immune system profiles. The authors of this study suggested that being on The Pill is essentially fooling the body into thinking you’re pregnant. Women who aren’t pregnant therefore prefer “exotic” men, while pregnant women prefer “familiar” (and therefore presumably “safe” and “protective”) men. Could be, but a lot of evolutionary psychology excruciatingly difficult to prove conclusively. At any rate, I don’t think there’s been a tremendous increase in first cousin marriages since The Pill.
Not bad for a reasonably technical discussion of a lot of aspects of sex and gender. Interestingly, my copy was deacquisitioned by the Denver Public Library even though it was only three years old. Too controversial?1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5the book is awesome and gives a lot of information about human body and functioning that one might never have thought of. it is full of researches by doctors, pshycologist etc, which actually shows the changing trends and scientific facts responsible for changes which occure in human body. historical developements have led to a ocean full of changes in human mind, body and soul has been very truly depicted in this book.