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Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation
Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation mimics a write-in advice column, in which anthropomorphised animals of all kinds ask for help with their sex lives. That is just the framework, however, for an entertaining tour of the natural history and evolutionary biology of sex. Pretty much every aspect of animal sex is at least touched on, though the "all creation" of the title is an exaggeration -- there's only the occasional reference to plants and bacteria, with nothing (for example) on the fascinating topic of pollination.
The columns are grouped thematically in thirteen chapters, divided into three parts. Part one covers the "expenses" involved in sex, female promiscuity, conflicts between males, and alternative strategies for those who are poor and small. Part two covers sex and cannibalism, sex and violence (male and female), love potions and homosexuality, and monogamy. And part three looks at incest, at hermaphroditism, facultative sex and other variants, and at asexuality and theories for the evolution and persistence of sex.
Each column typically runs to four or five pages, beginning with a question.
Dr. Tatiana never answers directly, but looks around first at other species with similar or related problemsDear Dr. Tatiana,
I'm an Australian redback spider, and I'm a failure. I said to my darling, "Take, eat, this is my body," and I vaulted into her jaws. But she spat me out and told me to get lost. Why did she spurn the ultimate sacrifice?
and sets the question in a broader context"... most guys prefer not to be eaten at all. ... In the scorpion Paruroctonus mesaensis, the male whacks his partner several times before racing off; in the wolf spider Lycosa rabida, the male tosses his lover in the air, leaving her in a crumpled heap as he hurries away.
... In the bristle worm Nereis caudata, something similar goes on but for once it's the man who eats his wife.
... Do other males eat their mates? I have never heard of it. But note: this is not to say males don't eat females. They do. Just not during sex. Platonic cannibalism is a problem for creatures from apes to amoebae. It's depraved out there."
before finishing with the answer, if there is one."... It goes without saying that such a death wish can evolve only in special circumstances. That is, being eaten must mean you leave more offspring than if you are spared. So far, your species is the only one known to meet this criterion. A male redback who gets himself munched fertilizes more eggs than a male who survives. Why? ... it turns out that sex takes longer when she's chewing away on you, which gives you the chance to deliver more sperm and thus fertilize more eggs. So your challenge is to make yourself more appetizing."
Links to many different areas of biology are explored."The secret is picking your moment. Female redbacks aren't greedy; when they're not hungry, they don't eat. If you offer yourself right after she's feasted, forget it. You've got to wait until she gets that mean and hungry look in all eight of her beady little eyes. And then, for what you are about to receive, may your kiddies be truly thankful."
And for those who want to follow up specific topics in the technical literature, there are thirty pages of notes, giving annotated references for each column, with pointers into a forty page bibliography. (Though a short recommended reading list of non-technical popular works on evolution would have been a more useful inclusion for most readers.)"Lysin, the protein that determines whether an abalone sperm can enter an abalone egg, is evolving at record speed. Tantalizingly, abalone are also splitting into new species at a startling rate."
Sex Advice to All Creation assumes no background in biology, and there's the occasional wordy or repetitive explanation. But even scientists for whom the evolutionary biology is old hat are likely to find some new details in the natural history. The chatty tone and the framing conceit of an advice column -- extended in the last chapter to a mock television show -- remain entertaining and decorative, never pushed so far they become annoying or distort the science.
"If you are not a hermaphrodite, incest is best if you come from a species where males have only one set of genes. If you're not a member of such a species, I urge you to avoid sex with your nearest and dearest."
You can purchase Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
This is Slashdot, the only problems with people's sex life here is that they don't have one.
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
Next thing we are going to see penis enlargement stories.
It said that this book won't get me laid, and guess what. It didn't. 4 stars.
...should not have 'creation' in the title.
To still have hot Monkey love?
Sincerely, Czephyr
"We apologize for the inconvenience"
i'm amazed that i survived - an airbag saved my life.
No, I wouldn't consider myself a player - far from it, but yes I do read these websites.
Ummm.. No one is going to assume you are a player because you read these websites.
Maybe being a pornographer gets you laid? Just a thought.
sulli
RTFJ.
THAT was the nuttiest(no pun intended) thing ive seen in a while on CSI last night... that dude crying about finding out who he really was was WHACKED. id never even heard of all that before...
to stay on topic, uh... beowulf clusters of something or others... or how about SCO sux?
i sell illegal drugs
No. But I should say that's the most original first line from a /. book review in a loooooong time......
1. No sig. 2. ???? 3. Profit!!!
fnord
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
"I was dissapointed when two thirds of the way through the book ended (it was a small paer back to start with) the last third was notes etc."
So now you know how women feel about sex.
Step 1) Move out of your parents house and into your own apartment/house/townhouse/condo.
Step 2) Invite female friend for dinner.
Step 3) ????
Step 4) uh, profit? More like score!
Ok MODS, I'm ready for you!
-Cyc
/.'s 10 Millionth
"This song goes out all you guys who ain't gettin' laid. And that is every last one of you. Sexcow!" -- Oderus, Level 5 show, the Roseland, NYC, Halloween, 1997.
Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
This has nothing to do with anything remotely Slashdot related, but I need to do something before my head explodes:
As I type this, my roomate and my best friend/recent lover are fucking in the next room over. WHAT THE FUCK. After 10 years of friendship and built-up sexual tension, we finally hooked up and now less than a week later she's banging my roomate. I am so fucking incensed right now I can't think straight. I wouldn't mind if they went to a hotel or otherwise didn't make it known, but she just FUCKING WALKED PAST MY ROOM TOPLESS AND SHUT THE DOOR IN MY FUCKING FACE. How fucking insensitive can you be?!
This sucks. It's 3AM and I'm telling strangers (GEEK strangers, no less) about my personal problems. I am a big pussy and will most likely not say anything to either one of them so I expect this to go on for a while. Fuck.
Feeling low? There's someone else out there that's having a worse day than you. Trust me.
If you can think of a better way to exchange long protein strands, we'd like to hear about it.
"Why do they still teach 19th century thinking in schools?"
You mean like genetics, theromodynamics, electromagnetism, quantitative chemistry, and all that unreliable jazz?
I get laid on a *very* regular basis (no, I'm not married)
But without paying for it and by the same species? (Dolls don't count.)
This isn't even yours; I've seen this before. It was funny then, and is funny now, but at least acknowledge that it isn't yours.
How is the interspecies sex covered in the book? I really wonder what approach does the author take on that. True, Incest is fun for whole family, being a bi doubles your chances, and being a herm gives you at least twice as much positions, but still in means of pleasure nothing beats old-fashioned bucket and cuddly fluffy mare rump.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Hey all I am cute 17f blonde. I want you! I will sleep with all those who moderate this post plus one!
:)
--Karma Whore