Science and Lust

Desire is in your DNA. Use it!

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re doing flirting and seduction all wrong?  How about reading science-based information about matters like sexual arousal and flirting strategies — in humans and animals! Rebecca Coffey is a nationally known science journalist writing about desire, and she does it with a sense of humor. Her fact-checked observations are wildly fun. In 12 lively essays, SCIENCE & LUST will give you inspired news to use about, for example:

— Sexual arousal. For about 26% of women, if you ask them, “Was it good for you, too?”, you probably shouldn’t trust the answer. That’s how many women in a sample 2505 couldn’t tell when they were aroused — even though physiological monitors revealed that they were. 

— Cheating. (In heterosexual men, “sudden coital death” is largely a problem of adulterers. For almost any man, cheating on a wife or girlfriend significantly elevates the risk of a cardiovascular catastrophe.)

— The sexual strategies of female narcissists. (Men: have you ever been “love bombed?” At first it’s fun, then kind of scary, yes? Where male narcissists may resort to date rape, as a rule, many women stick to emotional manipulation.)

And so on.

Author Rebecca Coffey is a well-known science journalist, writing often about mating, evolution, and human behavior. What puts SCIENCE & LUST over the top both as a resource and its own pleasure is that she’s also a humorist. Her playful, fact-checked writing is wildly emboldening. Reading it won’t overwhelm you with sexual tips and tricks. It may, however, turn you into a coveted conversationalist at dinner or on dates. (No surprise there. People love to talk about surprising sexual studies, as long as the conversation partner has his or her facts straight.) Coffey’s journalism has been featured in The Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Times, The Oakland Tribune, on WNYC’s “The Takeaway,” Fox News’s “Happening Now,” KPCC’s “Air Talk with Larry Mantle,” WAMC’s “51 Percent,” IRN USA Radio’s “Daybreak USA,” Vermont Public Radio, Northeast Public Radio, WBUR Boston, and in Scientific American and Discover magazines. Kirkus Reviews calledSCIENCE & LUST “entertaining and envelope-pushing…. The Midwest Book Review praised it for putting “the ‘lively’ back into matters “and drawing “direct connections between modern sexual activities, dilemmas and questions, and the latest scientific findings.”

PRAISE FOR SCIENCE AND LUST:

“Entertaining and envelope-pushing popular science. … This offbeat collection should appeal to fans of author Mary Roach.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[An] absorbing read which puts the ‘lively’ back into matters and draws direct connections between modern sexual activities, dilemmas and questions, and the latest scientific findings.”—Midwest Book Review

“With wit and verve, Science and Lust makes a significant, valid contribution to sex-positive literature—Marty Babits, author of The Middle Ground (Prometheus.)

“How does Rebecca Coffey do it? I read Science and Lust in one sitting, as if I were savoring one appetizing morsel after another, enough to leave me magically both sated and wanting more. Dip in and enjoy the feast.—Jill Gentile, psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist, Associate Professor at N.Y.U., and author of Feminine Law (Karnac Books)

“Layered and laced with fun-filled facts, information and an extensive bibliography, Science and Lust is a gift to all who appreciate solid research portrayed in breezy page-turner fashion.”—Rita Watson, Public Health specialist, journalist, and co-author of six books

Beck and Branch, 2018