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mikecross's review against another edition
5.0
Wow!!! While written very scientifically, a new light on evolution for a sexual selection aspect. Mostly birds, but then adeptly applied to primates / humans. You wish he had more ways to enlighten you, but we'll just have to wait. Excellent read if the subject matter interests you.
mandler_'s review against another edition
4.0
Richard O. Prom delivers an excellent book on the evolution of beauty in the animal world. Honestly, the book is well-written, well-researched, and seems to be an illuminating take on Darwin’s The Fall of Man. I would rate the scientific content of the book as 5 stars, but then again, I don’t know any factors or contributing information that would make me doubt or refute Prum’s points.
That being said, I was disappointed. I think I read the book’s title and focused pretty heavily on the evolution of human beauty. I wanted to hear more about sexuality and the ‘why’ behind human behavior. I suppose though that is Prum’s point—there isn’t much to say about beauty from an evolutionary point of view, and if there is, we can’t say definitely as to why we developed in certain ways. (I originally rated the book as 3 stars, but now that I’m analyzing things, I think I will rate it 4 stars because the author did ultimately convince me of these findings.)
I think the largest piece of information that I will take out of this book is two-fold:
1. I absolutely know nothing about bird and ornithology. It seems to be an intriguing field and I am sure the birds are both beautiful and an interesting look into evolutionary forces.
2. All evolutionary biology has a history of eugenics (either directly supporting it, benefitting from it, or cheering it on)
That being said, I was disappointed. I think I read the book’s title and focused pretty heavily on the evolution of human beauty. I wanted to hear more about sexuality and the ‘why’ behind human behavior. I suppose though that is Prum’s point—there isn’t much to say about beauty from an evolutionary point of view, and if there is, we can’t say definitely as to why we developed in certain ways. (I originally rated the book as 3 stars, but now that I’m analyzing things, I think I will rate it 4 stars because the author did ultimately convince me of these findings.)
I think the largest piece of information that I will take out of this book is two-fold:
1. I absolutely know nothing about bird and ornithology. It seems to be an intriguing field and I am sure the birds are both beautiful and an interesting look into evolutionary forces.
2. All evolutionary biology has a history of eugenics (either directly supporting it, benefitting from it, or cheering it on)
mnoyd's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
rachelfek's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This book was exquisite. The writing was phenomenal and it changed the way I view not only bird behavior, but the way sexist opinions have shaped our scientific theories. It was quite dense but truly eye-opening to read.
sailalee's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting, but the bit about human sexuality seemed a bit off to me. When he wrote about how there are twice more gay men than lesbians to explain natural selection for alliance building, for instance, he didn't consider social factors such as how compulsory heterosexuality can affect women. His expertise is on birds, which I enjoyed reading, but with humans, I think that area was a bit lacking. I'll put this in as a 3.5
babygoat2's review against another edition
5.0
Birds and evolutionary biology make for a fascinating read.
pancakereads's review against another edition
5.0
A convincing and fascinating exploration of evolution and female sexual autonomy that’s surprisingly feminist and feels even more important now, after the strike down of Roe
I’m certainly a fan of learning about animals just for the sake of learning about animals, but the last third of this book—in which the author applies his theory of aesthetic and female mate choice to humans—brought this book from 4 stars to 5
I came for the weird bird behavior and stayed for the new perspective on human evolution!
I’m certainly a fan of learning about animals just for the sake of learning about animals, but the last third of this book—in which the author applies his theory of aesthetic and female mate choice to humans—brought this book from 4 stars to 5
I came for the weird bird behavior and stayed for the new perspective on human evolution!