Titillating and provocative essays from one of the freshest voices in science today

Why do testicles hang the way they do? Is there an adaptive function to the female orgasm? What does it feel like to want to kill yourself? Does "free will" really exist? And why is the penis shaped like that anyway? In "Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That?," the research psychologist and award-winning columnist Jesse Bering features more than thirty of his most popular essays from "Scientific American "and "Slate," as well as three new pieces, that take readers on a bold and captivating journey through some of the most taboo issues related to evolution and human behavior. Exploring the history of cannibalism, the neurology of people who are sexually attracted to animals, the evolution of human body fluids, the science of homosexuality, and serious questions about life and death, Bering astutely covers a generous expanse of our kaleidoscope of quirks and origins.

With his characteristic irreverence and trademark cheekiness, Bering leaves no topic unturned or curiosity unexamined, and he does it all with an audaciously original voice. Whether you're interested in the psychological history behind the many facets of sexual desire or the evolutionary patterns that have dictated our current mystique and phallic physique, "Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? "is bound to create lively discussion and debate for years to come.

傑西．白令(Jesse Bering)

《科學人》（Scientific American）和《石板》（Slate）雜誌的專欄作家，他的作品也常見於《紐約》（New York）雜誌、英國《衛報》（The Guardian），和《新共和國》（The New Republic）等諸多刊物，亦經美國公共廣播電台（NPR）、花花公子電台，與英國BBC等許多媒體報導。白令博士著有《信仰本能》（The Belief Instinct），曾任貝爾法斯特的女王大學（Queen’s University）認知與文化研究中心主任，阿肯色大學（University of Arkansas）教授。他現居紐約州綺色佳。

他的個人網站 www.jessebering.com。

譯者簡介

莊靖

台大外文系畢，印地安那大學英美文學碩士，譯有《愛上萊特》、《世界既簡單又複雜》、《建築變形記》等書（以上皆漫遊者文化出版）。