Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals

How do imperceptibly small differences in the environment change one's behavior? What is the anatomy of a bad mood? Does stress shrink our brains? What does People magazine's list of America's "50 Most Beautiful People" teach us about nature and nurture? What makes one organism sexy to another? What makes one orgasm different from another? Who will be the winner in the genetic war between the sexes?

Welcome to Monkeyluv, a curious and entertaining collection of essays about the human animal in all its fascinating variety, from Robert M. Sapolsky, America's most beloved neurobiologist/primatologist. Organized into three sections, each tackling a Big Question in natural science, Monkeyluv offers a lively exploration of the influence of genes and the environment on behavior; the social and political — and, of course, sexual — implications of behavioral biology; and society's shaping of the individual. From the mating rituals of prairie dogs to the practice of religion in the rain forest, the secretion of pheromones to bugs in the brain, Sapolsky brilliantly synthesizes cutting-edge scientific research with wry, erudite observations about the enormous complexity of simply being human. Thoughtful, engaging, and infused with pop-cultural insights, this collection will appeal to the inner monkey in all of us.

Robert M. Sapolsky is the author of several works of nonfiction, including A Primate's Memoir, The Trouble with Testosterone, and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. He is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant. He lives in San Francisco.

Contents

Author's Note

Acknowledgments

Part I: Genes and Who We Are

Introduction

Nature or Nurture? "The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World" Assess the Source of Their Good Looks

(Discover, 2000)

A Gene for Nothing (Discover, 1997)

Genetic Hyping (The Sciences, 2000)

The Genetic War Between Men and Women (Discover, 1999)

Of Mice and (Hu)Men Genes (Natural History, 2004)

Antlers of Clay (Natural History, 2001)

Part II: Our Bodies and Who We Are

Introduction

Why Are Dreams Dreamlike? (Discover, 2001)

Anatomy of a Bad Mood (Men's Health, 2003)

The Pleasure (and Pain) of "Maybe" (Natural History)

Stress and Your Shrinking Brain (Discover, 1999)

Bugs in the Brain (Scientific American, 2003)

Nursery Crimes (The Sciences, 1999)

Part III: Society and Who We Are

Introduction

How the Other Half Heals (Discover, 1998)

The Cultural Desert (Discover, 2005)

Monkeyluv (The Sciences, 1998)

Revenge Served Warm (Natural History, 2002)

Why We Want Their Bodies Back (Discover, 2002)

Open Season (The New Yorker, 1998)