Product 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21562 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781560258483
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author

Customer Reviews

Humans as just another animal
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.

Updated Book Even Better than the First!
This updated version of Baker's landmark book has provided readers with updated statistics, new research that further proves that attraction and passion has less to do with flowers and more to do with chemical reactions actually taking place within the body.

Baker's research and analysis will give men pause, and realize how important it is to integrate the best of the 'bad boy' into the terrific, redeeming qualities of a great, confident man!

I wish these books were out 10 years ago!

- GiddyupGuy.com

Stand By
You have to be rather mature to be able to read this book without freaking out. It is so full of brutal honesty with regard to human sexual behaviour. It would be more than easy to just get insecure and try to push it all under the carpet. Only a very strong person can come to terms with the reality of his or her own biological nature. If you read this at face value, it would be a temptation to lose all fatih in human beings. You could spend your life hiding behind hollywood fantasies as to to human nature and the myth of "being in love" as the only truth about sex and love but that would be delusional. Remember that human beings are biology, and this book makes that startingly clear... and that we are also a heart. At the end of the day we are free and we choose our actions. Read with care. This book is scary. VM