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Sex shapes who we are as individuals and as a species. Where in the mists of time did something so important – and eye-catching – originate, and what does this history tell us about ourselves? Why do we have sex, and sexes, at all?
In The Other Big Bang, the evolutionary and developmental biologist Eric S. Haag explores the two-billion-year history of sex, from the first organisms on Earth to contemporary humans. He delves into the deep history of sexual reproduction, from its origins as a fix for a mutational crisis to an essential feature of all complex life. Haag traces sexual differentiation from its earliest forms in microbes to its elaboration in animals, showing why sex differences in cells and organisms help species adapt, persist, and evolve. Humanity's clear sexual kinship with yeast and clams exists even as we evolved differences that distinguish us from other mammals, and even other apes.
Bringing the story up to the present, Haag argues that the evolutionary history of human sexuality helps us better understand contemporary society. Our ancient male-female sexual system remains an important fact of life, even as we see increasingly diverse sexual orientations, gender expressions, and parenthood choices. Witty and inviting, The Other Big Bang offers a clear view of the evolutionary roots of human sexuality and their significance today.
Introduction
Note on Language
Part I. The Dots That Need Connecting
1. Sex in the Air
2. Ex Unum Pluribus
Part II. From Microbes to Mammals
3. Go Big
4. The Left Fin of Darkness
5. One Genome, Two Bodies
6. Going It Alone
7. Land Ho!
8. The Bun in the Oven
Part III. Sexual Homo
9. Period Piece
10. Scents and Sensibility
11. The Male Gaze
12. Sex Versus Sexism
13. Queerly Normal
14. Pronouns
Epilogue: Eyes Wide Open
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Eric S. Haag is a professor of biology and director of the Biological Sciences Graduate Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has conducted research on the evolution of sex and reproduction in animals such as sea urchins, roundworms, and hermaphroditic fish for three decades.
"The Other Big Bang offers a grand perspective on evolutionary and human history, from the origins of life on Earth to the emergent complexities of human sexuality."
– Simon LeVay, author of Attraction, Love, Sex: The Inside Story
"In The Other Big Bang: The Story of Sex and Its Human Legacy, Eric Haag explores one of life's most basic features. In discussions at once accessible and deeply informed by biology, Haag illuminates not only the origins of sex and its role in promoting biological diversity, but also the many ways in which it has shaped our own bodies and behavior. His chapters on sexism, sexual aggression, and sexual orientation are both firmly grounded in science and compassionate – required reading for thoughtful citizens."
– Andrew H. Knoll, author of A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters
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