Published to acclaim and controversy a decade ago, Sperm Wars is a revolutionary thesis about sex that turned centuries-old biological assumptions on their head.
Evolution has programmed men to conquer and monopolize women while women, without ever knowing they are doing it, seek the best genetic input on offer from potential sexual partners.
In this book, best-selling author Robin Baker reveals these new facts of life: ten percent of children are not fathered by their "fathers;" less than one percent of a mans sperm is capable of fertilizing anything (the rest is there to fight off all other mens sperm); "smart" vaginal mucus encourages some sperm but blocks others; and a woman is far more likely to conceive through a casual fling than through sex with her regular partner.
Its no wonder that Sperm Wars is a classic of popular science writing that will surprise, entertain, and even shock.
You have to be rather mature to be able to read this book without freaking out. It is so full of brutal honesty with regard to human sexual behaviour. It would be more than easy to just get insecure and try to push it all under the carpet. Only a very strong person can come to terms with the reality of his or her own biological nature. If you read this at face value, it would be a temptation to lose all fatih in human beings. You could spend your life hiding behind hollywood fantasies as to to human nature and the myth of "being in love" as the only truth about sex and love but that would be delusional. Remember that human beings are biology, and this book makes that startingly clear... and that we are also a heart. At the end of the day we are free and we choose our actions. Read with care. This book is scary. VM
Sperm wars dives into many fascinating aspects of our sexuality and how these inherent drives have evolved over time and still control us to a much greater extent than most of us believe.
The book describes concepts using realistic situations and stories, making the book educational as well as exciting to read.
He reveals:
-Why a woman often feels a strong drive for finding the best genes as well as the best provider, and how she will optimize her sexual strategy if she cannot find a man that satisfies both.
-Why gays and bisexuals are actually the result of specific evolutionary survival strategies.
-How rape plays out in humans and other species.
-How most of a man's sperm is actually created to battle other sperm.
-10% of children are have different fathers than they believe.
-A women is far more likely to conceive through an affair rather than with her boyfriend or husband.
I had high hopes for this book after hearing so many of my friends rave about it. However, I was a little let down. First of all, there are no foot-notes or citations for any of the claims/statistics that Baker writes about. I understand that the book reads easier without them, but it takes a lot of the credibility away from the message. Also, the constant referral to previous/future "scenes" (37 small stories) throughout the book really made it difficult to follow.
I read in a couple other reviews for this book that a lot of the "science" Baker writes about has been proved wrong. One of the reviewers actually posted a link to a scientific article which conducted some experiments contradictory to Baker's research, so if you feel inclined it's on this website somewhere.
Anyway, the book did have a couple (valid) discoveries that were new to me, so all was not lost. Just wish Baker had done a better job of backing up his research!
