Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Penguin (2023), 604 pages
Description
"In Eve, Cat Bohannon answers questions scientists should have been addressing for decades. With boundless curiosity and sharp wit, Bohannon covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex. Eve is not just a sweeping revision of human history, it's an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Bohannon's findings, including everything from the way C-sections in the industrialized world are rejiggering women's pelvic shape to the surprising similarities between pus and breast milk, will completely change what you think you know about evolution . . . and women. A 21st-century update of Our Bodies, Ourselves, Eve offers a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is and why it matters"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member LynnB
This book was extremely well-researched and contains a lot of knowledge. I learned something on nearly every page! It is also well written. The use of analogies and even a little humour make the science accessible to a general reader. The early chapters were jammed packed with facts and research
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results. The later chapters became increasingly speculative. As the author shows us facts we've missed or misinterpreted, I found myself wondering, at times, if her version was any more correct. But she is very clear about what she is surmising vs reporting so thsi isn't a major issue. Show Less
LibraryThing member japaul22
This is a hard book to review, and part of the reason is that I'm still not sure what exactly it was. Was it a book about evolutionary biology focused on women? An anthropological study of female/male relations? A look at modern cultural norms and how they influence our lives? Pop science? Serious
Did I almost throw it aside in contempt several times? Yes. Was it also true that by reading a few more lines I was hooked back in each time? Yes. So I'm confused.
Here's what I know. Bohannon organized her book into nine sections that are loosely organized by one evolutionary step that our bodies, minds, or culture took and focuses in each on how the womens' bodily or societal needs were really the driver for that evolutionary step. The first section looks at developing milk glands and the ability to breastfeed. The second is about the development of our womb and growing our babies inside instead of laying eggs. The third is about our senses - much of this seems to have evolved to raise our very needy young. The fourth is about strength vs. endurance. The fifth about our use of tools. The sixth about our intelligence. The seventh about the timbre of our voice. The eighth about why in the world it would make sense from an evolutionary standpoint for women to experience menopause and lose the ability to produce offspring for such a large portion of their lives. And the last about love - monogamy, rape, sexual constraints placed on women.
I bet just reading that brief description sounds a bit overwhelming. I don't usually do a ton of highlighting in my kindle books, but in this one I highlighted 88 passages! There is a ton of interesting information in this book and I think it will end up providing a lot of background context that I use in many other places. It's one of those books that I'd love to see read and reviewed by some other LTers. I'm just not sure it achieved a cohesive tone or synthesized all the fascinating information very well. But in the end, I think I'm glad I spent the time on reading it.
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science? Comedy? Did I almost throw it aside in contempt several times? Yes. Was it also true that by reading a few more lines I was hooked back in each time? Yes. So I'm confused.
Here's what I know. Bohannon organized her book into nine sections that are loosely organized by one evolutionary step that our bodies, minds, or culture took and focuses in each on how the womens' bodily or societal needs were really the driver for that evolutionary step. The first section looks at developing milk glands and the ability to breastfeed. The second is about the development of our womb and growing our babies inside instead of laying eggs. The third is about our senses - much of this seems to have evolved to raise our very needy young. The fourth is about strength vs. endurance. The fifth about our use of tools. The sixth about our intelligence. The seventh about the timbre of our voice. The eighth about why in the world it would make sense from an evolutionary standpoint for women to experience menopause and lose the ability to produce offspring for such a large portion of their lives. And the last about love - monogamy, rape, sexual constraints placed on women.
I bet just reading that brief description sounds a bit overwhelming. I don't usually do a ton of highlighting in my kindle books, but in this one I highlighted 88 passages! There is a ton of interesting information in this book and I think it will end up providing a lot of background context that I use in many other places. It's one of those books that I'd love to see read and reviewed by some other LTers. I'm just not sure it achieved a cohesive tone or synthesized all the fascinating information very well. But in the end, I think I'm glad I spent the time on reading it.
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LibraryThing member pomo58
Eve, by Cat Bohannon, is an extremely engaging look at what we have missed, or misinterpreted, in our ideas about the evolution of homo sapiens.
This is not really an academic book though it is probably more packed with facts and figures than most popular science books. It is because of Bohannon's
Looking at key moments in our evolution, then shifting perspective to specifically include the female body, we find that a lot of what we have thought to be true is, at best, only partially true. Looking at systems that are specific to the female body offers alternative explanations for everything from who first used tools to who, and why, we first began walking upright.
While I would highly recommend this to readers who like to keep up with new ideas in science, I think this will also be a great book for those who might be thinking about what they want to do, whether as a career or, within academia, for their next research project. There are multiple opportunities to jump into a more specific area to further our knowledge and this is a book that, while not pretending to be a "social justice" book in the sense of emphasizing it, the information here can and should be incorporated into what we are fighting for. If you want a social justice book that simplifies everything and tells you what to do, this ain't it. If you're capable of taking information and using it within your movement, this will be a valuable addition.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
This is not really an academic book though it is probably more packed with facts and figures than most popular science books. It is because of Bohannon's
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almost conversational tone that the reader follows along quite well, even in the sections where academic-ish detail is necessary. While I hesitate to call it academic it isn't because the information isn't very well researched and annotated but because it can be read and understood by most readers with an interest. I think her extensive use of analogy, often with a touch of humor, also makes the learning seem easier.Looking at key moments in our evolution, then shifting perspective to specifically include the female body, we find that a lot of what we have thought to be true is, at best, only partially true. Looking at systems that are specific to the female body offers alternative explanations for everything from who first used tools to who, and why, we first began walking upright.
While I would highly recommend this to readers who like to keep up with new ideas in science, I think this will also be a great book for those who might be thinking about what they want to do, whether as a career or, within academia, for their next research project. There are multiple opportunities to jump into a more specific area to further our knowledge and this is a book that, while not pretending to be a "social justice" book in the sense of emphasizing it, the information here can and should be incorporated into what we are fighting for. If you want a social justice book that simplifies everything and tells you what to do, this ain't it. If you're capable of taking information and using it within your movement, this will be a valuable addition.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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LibraryThing member ritaer
Interesting ideas about how mammalian reproduction has shaped human evolution
LibraryThing member amberwitch
Had to give up on this due to squeamishness. The graphic descriptions of birth, feces, breastfeeding and other assorted biological processes were a bit too much for my tender sensibilities.
I also found it a bit jarring the way the author jumped between fanciful imaginations of the life of ancient
I also found it a bit jarring the way the author jumped between fanciful imaginations of the life of ancient
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species and settings, and very scientific language and concepts. The evolutionary ideas that she drew on were very interesting, and I would happily have read a whole book going into more detail on those - the idea that for example a beaver inherits not only a set of genetics from its parents, but also a build environment which is part of the species evolution. Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
The story of human evolution, focused on female bodies and what their owners would have wanted. I didn’t love the flippant tone, but YMMV; there was a lot of interesting stuff there about, e.g., how breastfeeding developed, what fat is for, and how male and female human hearing differ (and why
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that might be). I also liked the point that the “prostitution narrative” for how monogamy developed—males would provide more regularly for babies they thought were surely theirs—had big downside risks for females and their babies; if males are sure who’s the daddy, then they predictably kill the infants that aren’t theirs whenever there is a power shake-up. Thus, monogamy only plausibly makes sense when females can be relatively sure that such tectonic events are unlikely. Show Less
LibraryThing member Eavans
A comparative-lit PhD writes a science book: entertaining, but not very good science. Contains a lot of conjecture, a number topics the author obviously isn’t qualified to discuss, and has a weird chatty tone disguised as feminist (many eye-rolls). I had some fun and learned a lot, but I learned
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to take everything with a grain a salt until I looked at the study the author referenced (if there even was one). I’m happy she’s secured the bag but god damn, pop-nonfiction is poor. Show Less
Awards
BookTube Prize (Octofinalist — Nonfiction — 2024)
Foyles Book of the Year (Shortlist — Non-Fiction — 2023)
Women's Prize for Non-Fiction (Longlist — 2024)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2023)
New York Public Library Best Books: For Adults (Nonfiction — 2023)
Language
Original publication date
2023-10-12