by Olivia Judson
2.5 stars.Sigh. This is the kind of book that I really want to like. It is jam-packed full of information about reproduction, biology, life cycles, etc. throughout all kinds of life forms (with an emphasis on insects, it seems). What's more: the references are extensive; every "column" has its own s...
If I tell you that this is a book about science, zoology, and aspects of evolution - some of you may immediately tune out and rush to click on to another page. Well then, it's a book about the sex lives of various creatures - oh let me just make it easier and give you some quotes, so you can see wha...
An entertaining snarky take on Darwin et all.
Judson's stylistic conceit -- various species writing to an advice column about their sex lives -- is clever and well-done, although it does get tired upon repetition. Her prose is lively and entertaining, remarkably so for what often boils down to biological studies of insects. What I really found ...
Writing about sex is tricky, because you immediately are set upon by all manner of ideologies. Every religion, political ism, or psychology has a stance, usually amounting to different flavors of "don't do that; that's not right." Since Darwin, it's been almost a sport to use evolutionary biology to...
I found this book utterly edifying, and highly recomend it to anyone with any intrest in nature,social interactions, or sex.