Yesterday Chris invited readers to discuss C.P. Snow’s The Two Cultures here at The Intersection. Of course I’m in favor of the idea having basically had Collini’s edition attached at my hip as we composed Unscientific America. So not to steal his thunder, but I have an alternative suggestion related to my next book…
Who’s interested to discuss Mary Roach’s Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex? Here’s an excerpt from Publishers Weekly:
“Roach’s forays offer fascinating evidence of the full range of human weirdness, the nonsense that has often passed for medical science and, more poignantly, the extreme lengths to which people will go to find sexual satisfaction.”
And so while I’m in no way discouraging a ‘book club‘ about everyone’s favorite lecture from nearly 50 years ago in Cambridge, who wants to explore what the NYTimes describes as a ‘greatly satisfying romp‘?
April 10th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Just added this to my reading list, sounds like a great romp, oops I mean read:-).
April 10th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I would like to do that, especially since the book stares me in the face every time I visit Borders
April 10th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I would also recommend “Stiff” by the same author
April 10th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
OK, just ordered my copy, give it a few days to arrive and a few days for both of us to read it….
April 10th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I read this a few months ago. I highly recommend it.
April 10th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Sex sells. So does fear. I think I’d prefer the former.
April 10th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Sheril, you may be interested in the following article:
Legal Bedrock for Rebuilding America’s Ocean Ecosystems
Mary Turnipseed, Larry B. Crowder, Raphael D. Sagarin, and Stephen E. Roady
Science 10 April 2009: 183-184.
Summary: The public trust doctrine would provide a powerful framework for restructuring the way we manage U.S. oceans.
April 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Yes, the authors are down the hall from me here at Duke. Mary’s an expert on the PTD…
April 10th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Bonk is a fantastic book, as is her previous book, Stiff. One thing I found particularly interesting was some of the challenges sex researchers face when they write funding proposals. It’s something Roach hints at in her book but never gets fully discussed.
April 10th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
That’s something I noticed and have been pondering as well… and how words are often substituted in grants. ‘Physiology’ instead of ‘Sexual Behavior’ etc. Of course, this happens in other fields all the time when words like ‘evolution’ are avoided and others like ‘climate change’ are included even when they are distantly related to the research. Granting agencies have influenced proposal terminology across disciplines.
April 10th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Hers was probably the most entertaining book tour appearance that I attended last year. Mary is a fun mix of nervous energy and mildly inappropriate wit. =)
April 10th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I’ll have to say that the ‘Publisher’s Weekly’ excerpt is remarkably bereft of information that would encourage me to read the book. So what *is* the book about?
April 10th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Hey, Mary Roach is pretty popular, sure I’ll join the book club =)
April 11th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
So far it’s terrific. Last night I read about the first testicle transplants which sparked an interesting discussion among friends reading along here in Durham.
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:46 am
[...] we kick off our Bonk book club! As I explained already, everyone is invited to contribute to the conversation–even if you’re [...]
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:46 pm
[...] Mary Roach’s ‘Stiff’ when it first came out, so I was excited to see that Sheril started a book club reading the third book, Bonk, by the same author. My copy just arrived, so I will be participating [...]
July 27th, 2009 at 3:00 am
[...] I will not even attempt to write a real book review (see the review by Scicurious and the series of posts on The Intersection for more details. Also check out Greta Christina and Dr.Joan for [...]