Sex: A Natural History

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 forget-Sex: The Natural History illuminates one of the most powerful, and often misunderstood, aspects of human existence.