{"product_id":"on-the-origin-of-sex-the-weird-and-wonderful-science-of-reproduction","title":"On the Origin of Sex: The Weird and Wonderful Science of Reproduction","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eDr. Lixing Sun \u003c\/b\u003eis a distinguished research professor at Central Washington University and a 2024-2025 Radcliffe fellow at Harvard University. He is author of \n\u003ci\u003eThe Liars of Nature\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eand the Nature of Liars \u003c\/i\u003eand \n\u003ci\u003eThe Fairness Instinct.\u003c\/i\u003e He lives in Washington.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Readers who enjoy having their minds boggled by fascinating revelations about the creatures with which we share the Earth--bears, condors, platypuses, mushrooms, microscopic eukaryotes and more--will be delighted by \u003ci\u003eOn the Origin of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e... [a] sweeping, celebratory investigation of 'one of the most puzzling, persistent mysteries in all of biology.'\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBookPage\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Who can resist Lixing Sun's dive into the weird and wonderful science of reproduction?\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew Scientist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Enlightening . . . a fascinating, accessible study of how sex shapes and underpins our lives.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSunday Times (UK)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Sun reports what the biology shows and what it cannot yet resolve with the confidence of a researcher who has spent his career in conversation with his subject. \u003ci\u003eOn the Origin of Sex: The Weird and Wonderful Science of Reproduction\u003c\/i\u003e excels at making complex population genetics and evolutionary modeling feel both intuitive and entertaining.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eShelf Awareness (Starred)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Sun distills complex genetic concepts for general audiences with irreverence and humor. Sun's analysis emphasizes the breadth of diversity in nature while reminding readers that sex and gender are neither fixed nor binary.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBooklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"An entertaining and enlightening look at the ever-changing 'juicy mysteries' of sex.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKirkus\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"An accessible overview of sexual reproduction in the natural world.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"People make two mistakes about biological sex: First, that it's simple. Second, that we can backsolve its purpose and evolution based on that assumption. Lixing Sun rightfully skewers these assumptions in this wonderful and wide-ranging book. Smart, thoughtful, and witty, this book will make you rethink what you thought you knew about sex.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eCat Bohannon, author of Eve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Charmingly accessible prose, dripping with raw enthusiasm for the subject. Lixing Sun lets the glorious and unsolved mystery of why sex evolved take centre stage, peppering us with mind-bending stories of the incredibly diverse and bizarre ways in which reproduction happens for all species on this planet. Sun does not shy away from hot-button topics like human gender or intersexuality in sports, making this essential reading for anyone who wants a solid grounding in the biology of sex to better understand human nature. Our bodies might just be vehicles for our haploid gametes to continue driving their germline into the future, but you can't help admiring the diversity of methods nature has concocted to help them get the job done.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eJustin Gregg, author of If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Sex is costly, dangerous, and weird. Why on earth should natural selection smile on a mechanism that creates individuals radically different from those who have, by reproducing, already demonstrated their fitness? Lixing Sun, in this thrilling biological detective story, brilliantly told and relentlessly entertaining, romps towards an answer.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eCharles Foster, author of Being a Beast\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"This is a delightful book! Human sex in all its varieties now seems vanilla after this wondrous romp through the evolution of procreation and the startling ways of living that have emerged from the ancient challenge of surviving, reproducing, and responding to a shifting world. Evolution has produced in Lixing Sun an unparalleled tour guide to the joy of other sex lives, vastly knowledgeable and Tiggerishly enthusiastic, he clearly loves his subject; and reading this is like being given a speed tour by a biologist Willy Wonka through a zoological garden of animal sex, gender, conflict, and philosophy. Enjoyable, thought-provoking, and striking, without ever being dense or baffling.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTom Mustill, author of How to Speak Whale\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Combining terrific storytelling and solid science, Lixing Sun invites us on an amazing journey across time, bodies, and biology. Based squarely in the science of evolutionary biology, this book is an engaging, joyous, and deeply informative romp across the weird and wonderful landscapes of the science of sex.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAgustín Fuentes, author of The Creative Spark\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Exciting, mysterious, and illuminating. Lixing Sun succeeds in doing the nearly impossible: conveying complex up-to-the-minute science in a style that is not only accessible but fascinating and even sexy. \u003ci\u003eOn the Origin of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e is simply brilliant, helping the reader appreciate sex's glorious complexity throughout the living world.\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid P. Barash, author of The Myth of Monogamy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Edifying\"\u003c\/p\u003e-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFrom split-gill mushrooms to duck-billed platypuses, the spectacular science of sexual reproduction and creation of biodiversity on Earth. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Smart, thoughtful, and witty, this book will make you rethink what you thought you knew about sex.\" --Cat Bohannon, author of \u003ci\u003eEve\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Let's talk about sex. Not boring, human sex, but the endlessly fascinating, varied, and complex forms of reproduction in the rest of the natural world. Biologist Lixing Sun has spent decades researching sexual reproduction and evolution using behavioral experiments, genetic testing, and mathematical and computer modeling. In \n\u003ci\u003eOn the Origin of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e, he reveals the wild and weird world of how creatures reproduce. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In slime molds, sex can involve dozens--or even hundreds--of mating types, or proto-sexes. Among certain algae, nearly every individual can mate with almost any other--a veritable free-for-all. Meanwhile, whiptail lizards and California condors are just two among the many vertebrate species capable of parthenogenesis. Clownfish sequentially change from male to female, and bearded dragons can undergo temperature-dependent sex reversal, all of which challenge the notion that sex is binary and fixed in the natural world. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Assiduously researched and narrated with humor and verve, \n\u003ci\u003eOn the Origin of Sex\u003c\/i\u003e offers an expert and entertaining investigation into the science of how our planet is populated.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781541609174, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/13\/2026 (EAN 9781541609174, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/15\/2026 (EAN 9781541609174, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/01\/2026 pg. 86 (EAN 9781541609174, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/span\u003e 12\/30\/0001 (EAN 9781541609174, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496196800790,"sku":"9781541609174","price":38.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781541609174.jpg?v=1783057300","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/on-the-origin-of-sex-the-weird-and-wonderful-science-of-reproduction","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}