cover image Ever Since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality

Ever Since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality

Malcolm Potts, Roger Short. Cambridge University Press, $40 (268pp) ISBN 978-0-521-64404-4

From an evolutionary perspective, success is defined by the number of offspring produced--a number that, in humans, is directly dependent on the act of sexual intercourse. And virtually all human behaviors, from style of dress to manner of war, can influence the probability that sexual intercourse will occur. Scientists Potts and Short ""look for consistent patterns of behavior, found across many cultures, that probably represent the inherited predispositions that evolution has given us in the areas of mating, parenting, social behavior and relationships between groups."" The behavioral comparisons they make with many of our primate cousins often shed humorous light on our own actions and motives, such as their juxtaposition of a picture of copulating pygmy chimpanzees to one of Margaret Thatcher greeting Ronald Reagan with a full-toothed grin. The authors' cross-cultural and cross-species research permits them to walk the fine line between nature and nurture, focusing attention on, as expressed in the words they quote from anthropologist Laura Betzig, ""not whether evolution has shaped our behavior but how."" With abundant details and numerous fascinating sidebars illuminating seemingly all facets of the interplay between behavior and sex, Potts and Short present their topic with wit and insight. Their book often reads more like an encyclopedia than a smoothly flowing narrative, however, so readers may find themselves dipping into, rather than swimming through, its informative waters. 50 color plates, 20 halftones, 10 line diagrams. (Mar.)