Although we know a lot, plenty remains to be learned, and ironically we, the human species, are subject and object of what we still don’t know. Some of the unknowns relate to female sexuality, homosexuality, religion and the evolutionary basis of artistic creativity. David P Barash examines these and other mysteries from the perspective of evolutionary biology. Unlike in other species, human female ovulation is hidden and, like menstruation, orgasm and menopause, makes little sense in purely evolutionary terms. So why do they occur? There’s an awful lot here about sex, but Barash tackles other weighty topics, such as religious belief (a lot to do with social bonding, it seems, but the treatment is somewhat sketchy) and artistic creation (with many interesting insights provided about its biological basis). No definitive answers are provided, because there are none, but the pleasure is in the quest for knowledge, with hypothesis after hypothesis considered in a style that is informal, witty and accessible.
