Book Description
Published to acclaim and controversy a decade ago, Sperm Wars is a revolutionary thesis about sex that turned centuries-old biological assumptions on their head.
Evolution has programmed men to conquer and monopolize women while women, without ever knowing they are doing it, seek the best genetic input on offer from potential sexual partners.
In this book, best-selling author Robin Baker reveals these new facts of life: ten percent of children are not fathered by their "fathers;" less than one percent of a man’s sperm is capable of fertilizing anything (the rest is there to fight off all other men’s sperm); "smart" vaginal mucus encourages some sperm but blocks others; and a woman is far more likely to conceive through a casual fling than through sex with her regular partner.
It’s no wonder that Sperm Wars is a classic of popular science writing that will surprise, entertain, and even shock.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book for understanding how our sexual drives can often take control of us........2007-10-16
Sperm wars dives into many fascinating aspects of our sexuality and how these inherent drives have evolved over time and still control us to a much greater extent than most of us believe.
The book describes concepts using realistic situations and stories, making the book educational as well as exciting to read.
He reveals:
-Why a woman often feels a strong drive for finding the best genes as well as the best provider, and how she will optimize her sexual strategy if she cannot find a man that satisfies both.
-Why gays and bisexuals are actually the result of specific evolutionary survival strategies.
-How rape plays out in humans and other species.
-How most of a man's sperm is actually created to battle other sperm.
-10% of children are have different fathers than they believe.
-A women is far more likely to conceive through an affair rather than with her boyfriend or husband.
A little disappointing, but worthwhile.......2007-07-10
I had high hopes for this book after hearing so many of my friends rave about it. However, I was a little let down. First of all, there are no foot-notes or citations for any of the claims/statistics that Baker writes about. I understand that the book reads easier without them, but it takes a lot of the credibility away from the message. Also, the constant referral to previous/future "scenes" (37 small stories) throughout the book really made it difficult to follow.
I read in a couple other reviews for this book that a lot of the "science" Baker writes about has been proved wrong. One of the reviewers actually posted a link to a scientific article which conducted some experiments contradictory to Baker's research, so if you feel inclined it's on this website somewhere.
Anyway, the book did have a couple (valid) discoveries that were new to me, so all was not lost. Just wish Baker had done a better job of backing up his research!
Probing the mysteries of female sexuality.......2007-05-13
We all marvel at the unpredictable nature of female sexuality, and often wonder why women do the things that they do, and are equaly shocked at the things they DON'T do. Why are women so crazy about teenaged boys that they will risk life and limb to be with them sexualy ( i.e-the current huge runaway phenominon of female teachers having illicit relationships with their male teen students ), while they all but totaly ignore men over 20? Why do women suffer such sexual attention span deficit one day and are at least as sexual as any man the next? Are women truly less attracted to men than men are to women? Why is the realm of female sexuality such a matrix of insanity and seemingly bizzare behaviour? Why can't women explain what they really want?
The answers to these questions will shock you....and are contained within the brilliant, extensively researched pages of this book. It will not only give you more insight into the dynamics of female sexuality, but will give you more understanding of your own male sexual physiology as well. Reproduction is truly EVERYTHING !!!! Sex is life itself, and the importance of this transference of life from one generation to the next is a staggering existence we take totaly for granted. Not after you read this book!!! You will never view reproduction the same again.
Nice theory, but..........2007-01-11
It all makes for a nice sensationalist read, but apart from the author and his colleagues' own research, other research on this subject have proven it to be totally false in regards to human sperm. The "fun" of this book is all the eyebrows it raises by suggesting that women are unfaithful by nature, but really beyond that there are no other selling points. Makes for a good read if you're into that kind of fantasy junk...as for real science, throw this one in the pile with phrenology and whatever else.
Humans as just another animal.......2006-06-26
Among animals, humans seem unusually obsessed with sex and thus a bit separated from the rest of the animal biology, which seems to feature a preponderance of 10-second sex acts. Robin Baker uses a lifetime of university study to try to explain human behavior objectively through case studies and discussions at at rate of one per chapter. It is a mixture of illumination, rationalization and sadly some repetition as the explanations seem to cycle through in the ~33 chapters. Most of the time, he hits his points, but sometimes he seems to miss obvious ones; for instance in the "rough sex" chapter, the woman's reproductive advantage in marrying a mate is discussed but the male perspective in such mate exploration is not. Mate selection by physical endowment is essentially entirely neglected, yet in human societies it is the norm that most people have multiple partners over a lifetime. In fact, in this book sperm wars really alludes to instances in which multiple matings occur in a short enough time span that sperm of different mates are selected in the woman's reproductive tract--a topic of a number of chapters. Practically every sexual combination is presented and explained, even when it is a bit stretched, as for instance the explanation as to why homo- or bisexuality, lesbian or gay behavior may contribute to reproductive success. In his role, the author is largely amoral--an observing biologist trying to explain a role for behavior in reproductive success rather than judging its societal context--though sometimes outcome of the occasional case study seem to bear moral shadings. For those who want to learn about the biology underlying human sexual behavior, this book has some interesting ideas. As a biologist, I found the absence of direct citation of experimental evidence was distracting, as I would prefer seeing whether conjectures withstand scientific analysis, but that is not what this book is about. The current book looks and feels a lot like a second edition of his best-selling book "Sperm Wars" of a decade before, but I do not know that to be the case; I am looking forward to seeing what readers of both volumes say on that point.
Average customer rating:
- 10 years on
- A look at the future
- Very stimulating
- The genetic basis for human behaviour demonstrated!
|
Human Sperm Competition: Copulation, Masturbation and Infidelity
R.R. Baker , and
M.A. Bellis
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Anatomy
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Evolution
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medical
| Reference
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Reproduction
| Reproductive & Sexual
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Obstetrics & Gynecology
| Specialties
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Obstetrics & Gynecology
| Surgery
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0412454300 |
Product Description
x
Customer Reviews:
10 years on.......2006-10-21
It is now 10 years since this book was published. Surprisingly, it is still cited positively, especially by some evolutionary psychologists, along with citations of the Baker and Bellis papers in "Animal Behaviour", published in the 1990's. I say "surprisingly" because , in the intervening years, a substantial number of publications has appeared which fail to support many of the conclusions reached by Baker and Bellis concerning human sperm competition."Khamikaze sperm" , for example , don't exist in human beings...or at least Moore et al found no evidence to support the view that some human sperm block or interfere with those of other males( the paper was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B...which has stringent reviewing standards). The is no evidence that men with larger testes are more likely to engage in extra-pair copulations ( Simmons et al published a very good study on this in Animal Behaviour in 2004). As for female orgasm , and Baker And Bellis bizarre views on its functions...I recommend Elizabeth Lloyd's book on this topic, as a much needed critique of theories for the evolution of orgasm in women. As a primatologist I could never reconcile the animal evidence with Baker and Bellis ideas either. Over the years reputable experts in the field of sperm competition....such as Birkhead, Gomendio and Roldan, Harcourt, and Short , have pointed out the deficiencies in Baker and Bellis work.
Yet it is still cited, and has entered the textbooks in some cases....presumably to the detriment of students who are exposed to this material as if it represented the established facts of human physiology. A number of evolutionary psychologists are particularly at fault in this respect.The history of science teaches that truth always emerges in the end. Such is the case with human sperm competition....no doubt it occurs, but how often and whether it has shaped human evolution still needs clarification.The reader will not find reliable answers to these questions in Baker and Bellis book.
Alan Dixson D.Sc.
A look at the future.......2000-05-28
The accomplishments of Baker & Bellis, summarized nicely in this textbook treatment, are stunning and underappreciated. B&B present a strong case that our reproductive physiology and behavior evidence a degree of adaptive, strategic sophistication that should both thrill and embarass anyone who holds an evolutionary view of human behavior.
Thrill, because rarely in evolutionary literature have this many surprising details been assembled that argue so compellingly for an evolutionary view (and resist so completely the usual alternatives of random culture or passive socialization). Embarass, because this research plainly runs against the grain of the accepted gospel of American evolutionary psychology by showing that the unconsious processing of our evolved neural systems does not always consist of clucky, outdated, Pleistocene if-then routines, but can exhibit genuinely adaptive, environmentally contingent, creative, strategic intelligence -- even in the face of novel technological advances like modern birth control.
The only really unfortunate thing about B&B's work is that they themselves don't draw the psychological conclusions that seem to follow from their work. Here, as well as in Baker's popular books (Sperm Wars, Baby Wars, and the recent Sex in the Future), B&B are content to draw an odd distinction between the conscious agent and its body, and to assign our evolved strategies to the latter (leading to strange statements like "You may want to do this, but your body wants you to do that").
At any rate, mark my words: In 30 years those of us who are serious about evolutionary approaches to human behavior will list B&B's Human Sperm Competition among the most important works of the 20th century (and we will shake our heads the same way we do today about Mendel, wondering how in the world it took everyone so long to figure out that this stuff is a big deal). If you are engaged in research on mating or sexual strategies, do yourself a favor and get this book. And when you read it, keep one question is mind: What has to be true of human minds in order for B&B to have made these findings? It is a rare opportunity to glimpse the future of mind science.
Very stimulating.......1999-06-10
An absoluting fascinating book. Although not all the conclusions and suggestions are entirely plausible (or at least not well explicated), the thrust of the book makes itself felt. So to speak.
The genetic basis for human behaviour demonstrated!.......1998-03-09
Suddenly sociobiology comes to life! If you had any doubts about human sexual behaviour, or suffered from political correctness, this will set you to rights. It is indeed a seminal book.
Amazon.com
If you've ever looked upon sperm as a little army of white-coated soldiers setting off to sack and pillage a barely pregnable fortress . . . well, you'd be right, according to this fascinating new book. Dr. Robin Baker, who has studied sperm and cervical mucus in much greater detail than anyone would've thought necessary, has come to some startling conclusions: that less than 1 percent of sperm is actually designed to fertilize an egg (the rest are there to block other men's sperm), and that 4 to 10 percent of all children born to married couples are in fact the offspring of other men, usually of higher socioeconomic status, with whom the mother had a short-term relationship.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting Book.......2007-07-04
My husband and I are trying to get pregnant and I heard about this book through one of my college intructors. This book is really interesting to read if you want to know about this kind of stuff. Very interesting on how the body works!
Identical Book as "Sperm Wars: Infidelity, etc.".......2007-02-19
This book has identical body text as "Sperm Wars: infidelity, bedroom conflicts, etc", but under a different publisher, printed on better quality paper but with fuzzy font. But the other book if you want to read it. The 4 stars are from the other book. 0 star for this book for doing this duplication.
Unbelievable!.......2006-11-11
I could not put this book down. To date, I've probably given about 10 copies away to different friends as gifts, and all have been more or less mesmerized. The information (written by a British "evolutionary biologist"--whatever that is) tells us that every sexual move we make (whether with others or alone) is dictated by some primal and subconscious urge to put forth our very best genetic efforts for the creation of successful and prolific progeny who will then propogate other successful and prolific progeny. It can get a little bogged down in places. However...whew! After reading this (which I recommend), it will be impossible to just lay back and enjoy it ever again without wondering what subconscious game you're both playing!
Sperm Wars-A great theory.......2006-05-22
Although the author has a vast knowledge of animal husbandry, I believe he makes some leaps across the boundaries of genus and species to prove his theories with that knowledge. Overall the book was great on many levels. It gives us a good insight to the behavioral imprinting of sexual habits that most people do in fact make. I am in agreement with the author on a lot of his assumptions, but the hard facts are not presented in this book, at least not for human subjects. I'm glad I bought it because it gives us a lot to think about in the realm of human sexuality.
I highly reccomend it.
Seduction, Stimulation, Social interaction, and Deception........2006-04-18
All the makings of a epic, so forget 'the rules'!
I have absolutely no reservation in recommending this wonderfully insightful book on the fine, but martial art, of mating.
No other work (and ive recently read quite a few), sheds so much light on the complex reproductive strategies and counter-strategies of men and women, both of our conscious and subconscious mind, and more subversively, that of our magnificently diabolical bodies.
Throughtout, i was a repaeted astounded at the information contained within, and although it may have been a 'dumbed down' version of his more scientifically targeted thesis, this book is by no means lightweight. After many a scene, i was left to ponder the deeper significance of his observations.
In retrospect, i was socially ignorant, but thanks to this reality check, so honestly expressed by this author, i find myself in understanding of the behaviour that had me so often bewildered at my fellow humans.
My heart felt gratitude goes out the author for this wonderful book !
Book Description
Finally, the answer to why, when it comes to romance, women are coy and men are just clueless--explained from the micro standpoint. Who would have guessed that all of our sexual and social behavior, and even our physical appearance, could be attributed to what our tiny unseen reproductive cells are doing? But that's Quirk's thesis in this highly entertaining book from an Average Guy that's a fun read full of a-ha! moments for scientists and civilians alike. Learn facts about cheating you'll never see on "Jerry Springer," like how unfaithful females actually change the biology of their mates. Discover why most sperm couldn't care less if they never saw an egg, what makes men yell "woo!" in a feminine falsetto--very similar to the mating cry of the Siamang gibbon--and, most important, the surprising answer on what to wear to attract that alpha mate.
Customer Reviews:
Pure Genius.......2007-05-28
The best book on sexual evolutionary biology. Why both men and women seem to be on different planets. Hm... is there a catchier title?
Perhaps, but not a better book.
Unfortunately, despite his extensive bibliography, Joe Quirk (What the blazes kind of name is that for a scientific researcher? ) does not have a Phd. Neither is he buddies with Oprah, so I doubt this will top the besteller list.
Never mind. I've suffered through many academese imbued evolutionary snoozefests texts. This one will keep you wide awake, I promise.
What Quirk has is brilliance, and (gasp!) an ability to write. He must have had some alpha ancestors during the pleistocene era that could spin some awesome tales by the campfire.
Among The Table of Contents we find such gems as:
Chapter 9: The Jerk Gene
Chapter 12: Why Women are Coy, Men Clueless
Chapter 26: Free Love Causes War
And, for a smaple paragraph:
" Men are attracted to nubility and health. Women are attracted to nobility and wealth. Both want intelligence, kindness, and opulence.
Both want a good sense of humor. They'll need it. "
As will the reader.
An easy 5 stars.
Quirk is a kick.......2007-05-12
A fun and funny spin on evolutionary biology. Sex: a serious topic at its silliest. Good reading, full of clever lines and information perfect for sharing at cocktail parties.
Great book. .......2007-01-03
It is not often that you find a book that informs as well as amuses. This is for everything they left out of sex-ed when you were a kid.
Fun read includes plenty of insights........2006-09-24
Why are women teases, why are men afraid to commit, and what's behind the real needs of women and men? SPERM ARE FROM MEN, EGGS ARE FROM WOMEN: THE REAL REASON MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT takes a hilarious, quasi-scientific look at men and women from a different angle, blending a healthy sense of humor with science, sociology and biology in pursuit of the truth. The author 'studied' Playboy and Hustlers and spent some seven years researching source papers in sociobiology as well: his lively, fun read includes plenty of insights.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Joe continues to rock.......2006-08-02
Not only was his novel Ultimate Rush a funny, dynamically-quick read, but now this writer has given us some smartitude along with the laughs. Read it, believe it, marvel over the aqua-ape.
Average customer rating:
|
Sperm Competition and Its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects.
Leigh W. Simmons
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Insects & Spiders
| Animals
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Developmental Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Entomology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Evolution
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Entomology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Evolution
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems
-
Sexual Conflict (Monographs in Behavior and Ecology)
ASIN: 0691059888 |
Book Description
One hundred years after Darwin considered how sexual selection shapes the behavioral and morphological characteristics of males for acquiring mates, Parker realized that sexual selection continues after mating through sperm competition. Because females often mate with multiple males before producing offspring, selection favors adaptations that allow males to preempt sperm from previous males and to prevent their own sperm from preemption by future males. Since the 1970s, this area of research has seen exponential growth, and biologists now recognize sperm competition as an evolutionary force that drives such adaptations as mate guarding, genital morphology, and ejaculate chemistry across all animal taxa. The insects have been critical to this research, and they still offer the greatest potential to reveal fully the evolutionary consequences of sperm competition.
This book analyzes and extends thirty years of theoretical and empirical work on insect sperm competition. It considers both male and female interests in sperm utilization and the sexual conflict that can arise when these differ. It covers the mechanics of sperm transfer and utilization, morphology, physiology, and behavior. Sperm competition is shown to have dramatic effects on adaptation in the context of reproduction as well as far-reaching ramifications on life-history evolution and speciation.
Written by a top researcher in the field, this comprehensive, up-to-date review of the evolutionary causes and consequences of sperm competition in the insects will prove an invaluable reference for students and established researchers in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology.
Book Description
Males are promiscuous and ferociously competitive. Females--both human and of other species--are naturally monogamous. That at least is what the study of sexual behavior after Darwin assumed, perhaps because it was written by men. Only in recent years has this version of events been challenged. Females, it has become clear, are remarkably promiscuous and have evolved an astonishing array of strategies, employed both before and after copulation, to determine exactly who will father their offspring.
Tim Birkhead reveals a wonderful world in which males and females vie with each other as they strive to maximize their reproductive success. Both sexes have evolved staggeringly sophisticated ways to get what they want--often at the expense of the other. He introduces us to fish whose first encounter locks them together for life in a perpetual sexual embrace; hermaphrodites who "joust" with their reproductive organs, each trying to inseminate the other without being inseminated; and tiny flies whose seminal fluid is so toxic that it not only destroys the sperm of rival males but eventually kills the female. He explores the long and tortuous road leading to our current state of knowledge, from Aristotle's observations on chickens, to the first successful artificial insemination in the seventeenth century, to today's ingenious molecular markers for assigning paternity. And he shows how much human behavior--from the wife-sharing habits of Inuit hunters to Charlie Chaplin's paternity case--is influenced by sperm competition.
Lucidly written and lavishly illustrated, with a wealth of fascinating detail and vivid examples, Promiscuity is the ultimate guide to the battle of the sexes.
Customer Reviews:
And They're Off!.......2007-01-07
If you ever wondered about such glorious subjects as...okay, it's a book about sex, but the scholarly parts of sex normally only pondered by zoologists, not the boxing ring style blow-by-blow accounts you might read in novels. I'll tell you, my fellow Amazonians, if ever you want to feel stupid in what you thought you knew about the wonderful world of sex, read-this-book. And if ever you want to be amazed to death about the wonderful world of sex, read-this-book. And if you never EVER want to eat sushi again, read-this-book!
Did you know there are many species out there that have multiple schmeckles? No, it's true! A schmeckle here, a schmeckle there, a schmeckle everywhere! And did you know that some species die during copulation? And here I always thought nuns were just trying to scare us about that! Or that threesomes, foursome, heck hundredsomes are perfectly natural among many members of the phylum Chordata? Of which we and 97% of all life-forms are a part, folks! And how about the fact that in nature when studied in its entirety it is more common for males to raise the offspring than it is females? Okay, I don't think this book said that, but it's the sort of fact it would have had if it had included it. (Did you follow that?)
Seriously, ladies and non-ladies, this book is great! It studies reproduction as carried out by virtually every species known to exist. It elevates the mind to consider sex as evolution's largest tool, and it has a vigorous full tilt go at sex as a scholarly topic rather than the fodder for humor or arousal it often is. (None of you are turned on or laughing, are you? I should hope not!) Overall Promiscuity: An Evolutionary History of Sperm Competition does for biology what Schoolhouse Rock did for mathematics and other really, really dull stuff. I mean it makes an otherwise universally boring subject like sex fun!
bizzare but fascinating! :).......2006-01-01
i hesitate to write a review of this book because it might appear 'pervy' just to comment ;) but in all fairness, this book is worth reading for anyone interested in science, biology, sex, or ourselves :) ..anyone who enjoys this book would also probably enjoy the weekly publication: NewScientist :)
a test to reach easter.......2001-10-25
If you want to be grossed out, amused and steeped in leading scholarship all at the same time, this may be your book. In a fun, concise and well structured book, Birkhead gives us an up-to-date account of sperm competition in animals. The examples used are wide-ranging, from bed bugs to people, and never fail to raise an eyebrow. A Doay sheep female copulated 163 times in five hours and a man eating sushi once learned that the wiggly things in his tongue owed their thanks to a squid spermatophore. Beyond these exemplars of bizarre, though, this book contains cogent arguments for the place of sperm competition. It kindly sandbags the sensational claims of Baker and Bellis (in their Human Sperm Competition), giving us a fairer treatment in its place, both with respect to humans (where sperm competition has been of relatively little recent importance, evidenced by the relatively small testes and poor sperm quality of males) and numerous other taxa. The section on female benefits to multi-male mating is also worth noting. Evidence is amassed for female benefits in obtaining sufficient sperm, resources and improving the genetic quality of their offspring (e.g. through pairing her genes with a good MHC complement). These last ideas on genetic benefits will continue to inspire new research, just as other ideas in the book should too (accessory glands such as the prostate may have originated in the evolutionary battle of the sexes). It could be stated that the book overstates the case for sexual conflict, when benign agreements have been reached; after all, it wouldn't pay over evolutionary time for the faithful California mouse or swan to employ cruel mechanisms at expense to a partner. Yet this book is worth the strange questions and looks you'll get on the bus when people see its cover and look over your should while reading it (just as happened to my yesterday).
Stranger-than-fiction sex book.......2000-10-06
"Promiscuity" is about sex. Well, I suppose that much is obvious. And sex always makes for great reading. We are all obsessed and entertained by it. Still, this book took me by surprise. It is not your typical book about sex: offering cheap thrills or mundane, overdigested sociopsychological chatter. It is a unique guided tour of the bizarre world of reproduction throughout the animal kingdom. It is also a glimpse into the odd world of evolutionary biologists, in this case those who spend their lives contemplating the meaning behind all of the bizarre variations on sex in the animal world. Apparently, these highly respected academic scholars go to work each day to figure out such things as why some fruitflies make sperm that are 20 times longer than their bodies and why others produce seminal fluids that are toxic to their mates, why some marine flatworms have dozens of penises, why certain slugs have a penis that is longer than their body and that occassionally become so horrifically tangled about their mate that they must be chewed off, why dunglfies sometimes drown their mates in wet dung, why females of one species of catfish fertilize their eggs by drinking sperm, and why deep-sea anglerfish males bite their mates and never let go. The list goes on and on, preparing me with remarkable ammunition for the next dinner party.
Yet this stranger-than-fiction book is not merely a collection of Ripley's sex tales. It is a well-organized treatise of cutting edge science that masterfully instructs the reader as to the common evolutionary threads that define the underlying nature of sex. The reader is left, for example, with an abundant understanding of why sex between men and women is more about conflict than cooperation, which personally clarified much in my life. The first paragraph of the book reads in part, "Status for the Mediterranean male is all-important, and tradition dictates that a man who fails during a hunting expedition can expect his wife to be unfaithful. In parts of Italy it is widely believed that a man must shoot a honey buzzard each year if his wife is to remain faithful. So strong is this belief, and so powerful a motivating force is the idea of female fidelity, that even after they have emigrated to the United States many Italian men return home each year to shoot a honey buzzard. It is not a little ironic that in order to fulfil this ritual a man usually leaves his wife behind. Moreover, in some instances it is the wife who actually encourages him to go!" The remainder of the pages are as engaging as this first one. I recommend this book to anyone that ever has had or ever hopes to have sex.
Average customer rating:
- inspirative and quite thorough look on sexual selection
|
Sperm Competition And Sexual Selection
T. R., ED. BIRKHEAD
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Evolution
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Genetics
| Basic Science
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Pathophysiology
| Basic Science
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Medicine & Technology
| Reproductive & Sexual
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Zoology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Evolution
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Genetics
| Basic Sciences
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Pathophysiology
| Basic Sciences
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Reproductive
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Promiscuity: An Evolutionary History of Sperm Competition
-
Sexual Selection
-
Life in the Undergrowth
ASIN: 0121005437 |
Book Description
Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection presents the intricate ways in which sperm compete to fertilize eggs and how this has prompted reinterpretations of breeding behavior. This book provides a theoretical framework for the study of sperm competition, which is a central part of sexual selection. It also discusses the roles of females and the relationships between paternal care in sperm competition. The chapters focusing on taxonomic development are diverse and cover all the major animal groups, both vertebrate and invertebrate, and plants. The final chapter provides an overview discussing the relationship between sperm competition and sexual selection in terms of both function and mechanism and how these translate into species fitness. This book will be of prime interest to behaviorists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists, suggesting new avenues of research and new ways of approaching old problems.
Key Features
* The only up-to-date summary of a central and popular subject
* Well known editors and authors
* Provides a theoretical framework for the study of sperm competition
* Covers all major animal groups
* Includes a chapter on plants
Customer Reviews:
inspirative and quite thorough look on sexual selection.......1999-06-20
Must-read book for any serious student or researcher who is interested in the latest approaches in the subject of sexual selection.
Average customer rating:
|
Reproductive Tissue Banking: Scientific Principles
ARMAND KAROW
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Anatomy
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Physiology
| Basic Science
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Obstetrics & Gynecology
| Specialties
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Laboratory Medicine
| Pathology
| Specialties
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Veterinary Medicine
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Histology
| Basic Sciences
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Physiology
| Basic Sciences
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Laboratory Medicine
| Pathology
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Veterinary Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Anatomy & Physiology
| Medicine
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
Biology
| Medicine
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
General
| Medicine
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
Anatomy & Physiology
| Biological Sciences
| Sciences
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0123997704 |
Book Description
Reproductive technologies to assist in both human conception and animal breeding are increasingly in demand. These technologies, along with the advent of tissue engineering, have propelled the challenges of tissue collection, preservation, and banking to the research forefront. Using examples drawn from reproductive technologies,
Reproductive Tissue Banking presents the scientific principles underlying tissue banking. These examples serve as models for the technology of banking other living tissues, including blood, bone marrow, cornea, and skin. In discussing research emerging from their laboratories and those of others, the authors meld fundamentals of biology, chemistry, and physics with the latest discoveries in the field to give the reader profound insight into research directions and ethical considerations crucial to the advancement of tissue banking.
With its emphasis on human applications and concerns, this book provides a valuable supplement to short courses on tissue preservation and tissue engineering. Researchers in reproductive medicine, animal and veterinary science, and cryobiology will find this book, with its extensive bibliography, a very handy reference.
*
* Written by leading international researchers
* Provides insightful discussions on reproductive tissue banking
* Presents comprehensive citations to relevant literature, both current and historic
* Discusses in vitro preservation of spermatozoa, oocytes, embryos, and gonadal tissues of mammals
* Contains coverage of ethical considerations from a discussion of the splitting of embryos to an exploration of the protection of biodiversity
Book Description
The Ovary of Eve is a rich and often hilarious account of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century efforts to understand conception. In these early years of the Scientific Revolution, the most intelligent men and women of the day struggled to come to terms with the origins of new life, and one theory—preformation—sparked an intensely heated debate that continued for over a hundred years. Clara Pinto-Correia traces the history of this much maligned theory through the cultural capitals of Europe.
"The most wonderfully eye-opening, or imagination-opening book, as amusing as it is instructive."—Mary Warnock, London Observer
"[A] fascinating and often humorous study of a reproductive theory that flourished from the mid-17th century to the mid-18th century."—Nina C. Ayoub, Chronicle of Higher Education
"More than just a good story, The Ovary of Eve is an object lesson about the history of science: Don't trust it. . . . Pinto-Correia says she wants to tell the story of history's losers. In doing so, she makes defeat sound more appealing than victory."—Emily Eakin, Nation.
"A sparkling history of preformation as it once affected every facet of European culture."—Robert Taylor, Boston Globe
Customer Reviews:
Mystery, history, science.............2001-03-06
For the longest time, humans did not understand reproduction. Maybe they still don't. According to archeomythologists like Marija Gimbutas (THE GODDESS) humans first believed they came into existence spontaneously from the Goddess. After all, they could empirically detect that babies came from female bodies so why shouldn't a great big female goddess be the source of all life. With the arrival of Indo-Europeans in old Europe came the belief that the source of life was God the Father. After all, didn't the Bible say God made Adam and Eve and later on planted the baby Jesus in Mary? Her womb was merely a vessal to carry him (Zeus!! if she had been his real mother he would have been at least half human).
The second millenium of the Common Era produced a new twist on an old way of thinking. Renaissance men, being devoutly religious, still believed the source of all life was male, but now they sought to demonstrate this "truth" scientifically.
The "father of insemination" Spallanzani, demonstrated with frogs that male sperm was a requisite for the production of progeny. Correia tells of Spallanzani and his research in her amusing chapter "Frogs with boxershorts." But the Italians weren't the only scientists interested in sperm. Dutch scientists like Nicholas Hartsoeker (the heart searcher with the microscope), Antoni van Leeuwenhock, and Swammerdam fiddled with fleas and tulips and "advanced" the theory of spermism--that preformed little characters (homunculi) were planted in females (think penises) and then grew into babies. The female was still merely the vessal for rearing these perfectly formed progeny (think kangaroo pouch).
Dr. Clara Pinto Correia, professor of developmental biology says the theory of preformation was still being discussed in the 19th Century. Although the jacket of THE OVARY OF EVE insists men and women were engaged in the study of preformation, the truth according to Correia is that this was a male-insprired activity largely driven by the belief that males were the source of life.
Preformation was a wrong turn down a dead-end street. Usually historians tell us the story of scientific sucessesses, but what makes this book so interesting is that Correia tells us the amusing and heart-breaking story of the losers. And, these losers were a pretty impressive bunch of guys. Many of them were geniuses we know for other reasons, who were failures on spermism/preformation front, but sucessful elsewhere. This is a fascinating, readable and wonderful story that involves demons, dragons and Dracula. I recommend THE OVARY OF EVE to anyone who loves science and a good mystery.
Average customer rating:
- review of Sperm Competition in Humans
- An expensive collection of papers
|
Sperm Competition in Humans: Classic and Contemporary Readings
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Medicine & Technology
| Reproductive & Sexual
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Reproduction
| Reproductive & Sexual
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Reproductive
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Health, Mind & Body
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0387280367 |
Book Description
This volume presents the intricate ways in which sperm compete to fertilize eggs and how this has prompted reinterpretations of breeding behavior from a biological perspective. Sperm Competition in Humans: Classic and Contemporary Readings provides a theoretical framework for the study of sperm competition and also discusses the roles of females and the relationships between paternal care in sperm competition. The chapters focus on everything from evolutionary biology to taxonomic development.
Customer Reviews:
review of Sperm Competition in Humans.......2007-03-01
This book is probably ten years ahead of its time. That is, in ten years or so, it will be commonplace for evolutionary psychologists and evolutionary biologists to apply sperm competition theory to humans. Shackelford and Pound, however, have already recognized the utility of applying sperm competition theory to humans, and they complied the first volume of this developing literature. There's an original chapter that provides an up to date overview of the field, and the remaining chapters are labeled as "classic and contemporary readings". They're also fascinating and balanced. It's really nice to have all of this work in one place.
An expensive collection of papers.......2006-10-21
This book contains previously published papers about sperm competition in human beings...a substantial number by Baker and Bellis, aswell as some more recent contributions by other authors. Despite the inclusion of more contemporary papers, by evolutionary psychologists in particular, the book does not present a coherent or sufficiently critical overview of the field. It is quite short, and very expensive.It would have been better, perhaps, to have written a book about this topic , in order to produce a much-needed synthesis.
Books:
- Squirrel Proofing Your Home & Garden
- Straight from the Heart II: More True Stories of Remarkable Encounters with Once-in-a-Lifetime Horses
- The African Experience: An Introduction (2nd Edition)
- The Aging Brain (Maps of the Mind)
- The Aye-Aye and I: A Rescue Journey to Save One of the World's Most Intriguing Creatures from Extinction
- The Blue Bear: A True Story of Friendship, Tragedy, and Survival in the Alaskan Wilderness
- The Call of the Wild (Aladdin Classics)
- The Cougar Almanac: A Complete Natural History of the Mountain Lion
- The Dog Listener: Learn How to Communicate with Your Dog for Willing Cooperation
- The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To Do and What To Do About It
- The Power of Face Reading
- Shock! Horror!: Astounding Artwork From The Video Nasty Era
- Teach Yourself Mandarin Chinese Complete Course Package
- Teach Yourself Catalan Complete Course Package
- The World Of Normal Boys: A Novel
- The Jungle Book: A Pop-Up Adventure
- Corporate Financial Strategy, Second Edition
- Prentice Hall Finance and Accounting Internet Guide: A Guided Tour of the Information Superhighway
- Directory of Florida Industries 2005
The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author
The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
The Art of Seduction
