Between the Covers
How Sex Works
Sharon Moalem
288 pages; HarperCollins
Packed with trivia about the evolutionary history, intricate mechanics, and nitty-gritty mysteries of sex, sexual organs, and desire, Sharon Moalem's How Sex Works manages to inject science writing with the prurient thrill of a gossip rag. Here's a taste:
We like "va-jay-jay," of course:...and "hoo ha" and "honey pot" aren't bad, either. They certainly improve on the 19th-century pet name for the vagina, the "upright grin." But we vote for the revival of the late-1500s slang of choice, "hey nonny-no."
I only have eyes for you... and you: Ovulation, when female fertility is at its peak, is also the time of the month when women are more likely to fantasize about men who aren't their partners. If a woman does have sex with more than one man during ovulation, there's a chance that her wandering eye could lead to fraternal twins with different dads. One study suggested that one in 400 pairs of fraternal twins shares a mom but not a dad.
36-24-36 = genius: Data from the National Center for Health Statistics suggests that children of moms with wide hips but a low waist-to-hip ratio (the classic hourglass figure) score highest on intelligence tests. The explanation? Fatty acids stored in hip fat aid brain development in fetuses—womanly curves create brain power, literally.
Sharon Moalem
288 pages; HarperCollins
Packed with trivia about the evolutionary history, intricate mechanics, and nitty-gritty mysteries of sex, sexual organs, and desire, Sharon Moalem's How Sex Works manages to inject science writing with the prurient thrill of a gossip rag. Here's a taste:
We like "va-jay-jay," of course:...and "hoo ha" and "honey pot" aren't bad, either. They certainly improve on the 19th-century pet name for the vagina, the "upright grin." But we vote for the revival of the late-1500s slang of choice, "hey nonny-no."
I only have eyes for you... and you: Ovulation, when female fertility is at its peak, is also the time of the month when women are more likely to fantasize about men who aren't their partners. If a woman does have sex with more than one man during ovulation, there's a chance that her wandering eye could lead to fraternal twins with different dads. One study suggested that one in 400 pairs of fraternal twins shares a mom but not a dad.
36-24-36 = genius: Data from the National Center for Health Statistics suggests that children of moms with wide hips but a low waist-to-hip ratio (the classic hourglass figure) score highest on intelligence tests. The explanation? Fatty acids stored in hip fat aid brain development in fetuses—womanly curves create brain power, literally.
NEXT STORY
