Customer Reviews

The Science of Orgasm

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So many people and organizations over-emphasize sex for their own agendas, while for others sex is a source of unhappiness and guilt. But the fact is that for most people a balanced sex life is an essential part of healthy living. Yet despite the deluge of information about sex, it is amazing how much ignorance still exists. Most people working in psychology will have seen people who were convinced that they had an illness because he or she had failed to have an orgasm or had sometimes been less interested in sex.

This is the kind of book that will probably get thumbed through a lot at the local lending library, but it is not in any way a "how to" book. It is instead a scholarly work on what is known about orgasm. It is a book of facts and figures, a few diagrams and a lot of scientific references.

I have some minor gripes: the proofing could have been better: bromocriptine is one of a number of words that is misspelled. There is only a short discussion about why female orgasm exists at all. The male orgasm seems to have a straightforward evolutionary function, making males want to have sex more often, which in turn makes them more likely to have offspring. But how to account for female orgasm, when nearly three-quarters of women don't always reach orgasm during sexual intercourse? If the female orgasm had developed because of the same evolutionary pressures, females should have adapted to be as consistently orgasmic as males. (There is an excellent discussion of this issue in the recent book by Elisabeth Lloyd from Indiana University, which is referenced in this book). At some points in this book there is not enough of a distinction made between orgasm and arousal. For instance some women report that arousal rather than orgasm is what drives them to enjoy sex. There is also an over-emphasis on biochemical theories of orgasm, and an under-emphasis on the psychological, subtle and spiritual aspects. Even the topic of consciousness and orgasm gets only a brief chapter.

If you are interested in a more comprehensive view of orgasm, you may want to supplement this book with the works of David Deida, Jenny Wade, Mabel Iam and Mantak Chia.

But all that being said, this is the best single book on the physiology, biochemistry and pathology of orgasm. It also highlights that there is still a great deal that is known.

The book also gives quite a good summary of some of the approaches that may help people who feel that they have a problem with achieving orgasm. It is essential reading for anyone working with relationship problems. And if the only thing that comes from this book is a greater understanding that orgasm is not the only consideration in intimate relationships, that would be worthwhile in itself.

This book is almost unique, and apart from the points that I have raised, I recommend it to anyone who needs a reliable account of the physical aspects of orgasm, and suggestions for helping with problems.

This book is a well written review of the existing scientific literature concerning the orgasm. It provides a thorough and respectable - yet readable - introduction to the neurobiological and neuropsychological underpinnings of the orgasm. The book also discusses a variety of disorders which inhibit or enhance the orgasmic experience.

While it won't furnish the reader with miracle recipes for solving orgasmic disorders or achieving a tantric multiple orgasm, this book will provide helpful insights into the mystery of sexual pleasure. For those enduring sexual dysfunction as a result of antidepressant therapy, this book will explain how and why depression and its treatment can impair sexual function.

This book will also satisfy the simply curious mind with sections on sexual function and paralysis, gender reassignment, drug abuse, aging, males vs. females, and much more.

OK... I was wandering through the library aisles (really!), and this book sorta jumped out at me... The Science of Orgasm by Barry R. Komisaruk, Carlos Beyer-Flores, and Beverly Whipple. I thought it might be fun to learn a little more about what happens at that "YES!" moment. But this book really takes all the fun out of it. You pretty much have to have a medical degree to understand a majority of it, and there's little spractical material for the layman (pun not intended... much).

Contents: Definitions of Orgasm; Different Nerves, Different Orgasmic Feelings; Bodily Changes at Orgasm; Are Orgasms Good for Your Health?; When Things Go Wrong; Diseases That Affect Orgasm; How Aging Affects Orgasm; Pleasure and Satisfaction with and without Orgasm; The Nervous System Connection; The Neurochemistry of Orgasm; Effects of Medication; Counteracting Medication Side Effects; Recreational Stimulant Drugs and Orgasm; Depressant Drugs and Orgasm; Herbal Therapies; Hormones and Orgasm; Mechanism of Action of Sex Steroids; Nonreproductive Hormones in Orgasm; Atypical Orgasms; The Genital-Brain Connection; Orgasms after Brain Surgery or Brain Damage; Imaging the Brain during Sexual Arousal and Orgasm; The Cast of Characters - How Brain Components Contribute to Orgasm; Consciousness and Orgasm; Glossary; References; Index

Anyway... this is an extremely clinical look at the physiological and psychological components that make up the, you guessed it, human orgasm. If you ever wanted to know exactly what role 5-alpha-DHT or dehydroepiandrosterone play in your body, this book will tell you... in detail. Probably every study on human sexuality in the past 50 years that's ever been published is referenced in here... multiple times. After a couple pages of explanation on evidence that a genital sensory pathway goes directly to the brain, bypassing the spinal cord, I was ready to switch over to something much lighter... like Reinventing Project Management. This was one of those library books that got renewed a number of times, as I just couldn't bear to read more than 10 to 15 pages at a time. Maybe I need a book on why I feel I have to finish a book if I start it. :)

Seriously, I can see how someone in the medical field would find this very useful. Also, if you're dealing with major issues like a spinal cord injury or severe reactions to medication, you'd probably be motivated to dig through the information to find answers and solutions. But for the average male or female with relatively normal functioning parts, this is written at a level that requires far more work than it's worth.

And now I think I'll go find something a bit more readable...

For all of you sex science nerds out there, you will love this book. Warning: it is VERY SCIENCE-Y. It is not for the lay reader. But if you like the science stuff of blood vessels, nerves and neurotransmitters, this book is for you - I work as a sex educator and I learned an awful lot from reading this book. I also knew a lot going into it and found that their writing reflecting the knowledge I already had (in other words, it fit in as accurate, so I trust it). My colleagues respect this book too. Great book.

A well-researched book based on data that comes from peer-reviewed journals. (I have a psychologist friend who wants to borrow the book when I've finished reading it.) This is not a "Cosmo" guide to sexual satisfaction. It does talk about what nerves enervate what muscles and organs, for those women who have partial success at stimulation of some body parts and no success at others. I am using this in conjunction with my physical therapist to help relax muscles and nerves tightened by emotional stress to that I can become more responsive. So far it's working! If you are having sexual responsiveness issues, this book might be part of a discussion with your physician and a physical therapist who is well educated (D.Sci) and familiar and experienced in working with with women's health issues. There is stuff for guys, but I didn't pay much attention to that.

I read the original 2006 hardcover edition. As the reviews on this site show, some readers are distracted by the sell-word "orgasm", not letting the word "science" sink in. You should be aware that this is rather NOT a book about instructions of how to orgasm better. Instead, you may be interested in Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot: Not Your Mother's Orgasm Book! (Positively Sexual) (or similar books on that female topic). However, the intended pun of the "neutrally" brown sex shop paper bag design of the jacket is indeed a bit misleading as it suggests a popular science writing style. At times the book gets more of a dry text book.

The book details chemical processes of orgasm, the nervous system connection (and disconnection in paralyzed people who may experience orgasm nevertheless) and extensively on medication's influence on orgasm. As well as more recreational drugs' influences. Hormones, steroids and the brain's influence get chapters as well. A very important information are the chapters on orgasm's influence on health and ageing: The more orgasms you have, the older you get, statistically speaking. Studies which can't really explain themselves satisfactorily yet, but are counteracting some religious notions of the more you orgasm (and/or ejaculate), the sooner your life force will be used up. (Mostly east Asian theologies, such as Taoism getting globalized and secularized.)

My personal criticism is about the neglected prostate orgasm in men. It IS mentioned a couple of times that various parts of the anal anatomy contributes to orgasm and its quality in both, females and males. It IS mentioned that males may be able to orgasm and/or ejaculate in a flaccid state. It is also mentioned that males can have multiple orgasms. But the latter two facts are NOT referring to prostate orgasms in this book. Instead the book writes about the DIFFERENT orgasm potentials in women and men (as in different from each other). Whereas in reality there are basically the same variations of orgasm possible in both. The most strange thing is that the authors know about what they don't mention: They inform that MTFs (male-to-female transsexuals) may experience orgasm via stimulation of the "artificial" vagina, because of indirect contact of that neovaginal wall to the anterior prostate gland. This BEGS for the question, why none of the authors is even touching upon the same contact leading to orgasm from the other, natural orifice. I mean, not everyone may like the idea of erotic choice required for that orgasm, but hey: This is a science book about orgasm, for crying out loud! (But then again, there are strap-ons for women, who also have fingers, the latter of which are anyway more easily applied for that purpose.) I am positive that the authors have become acquainted with the studies of prostate stimulation in connection with prostate health issues. I vaguely know that the lack of stimulation may cause the various problems of that organ known in older males. One of the main reasons I bought this book was to find out about that. In vain.

Someone else is criticizing the lack of wondering about the necessity of female orgasm, evolutionarily speaking. I am a bit flabbergasted, as this is a topic within the first ten pages already. However, I am a bit concerned about the book's uncorrected quote in the same breath that supposedly female orgasm is as unimportant as male nipples. This is nonsense to begin with, but also: The book fails to mention the existence of male lactation. In today's world, this may be negligible, but in pure nature it is important that the possibility exists for the father to take over feeding the baby if the mother dies in childbirth or is prevented from breastfeeding for other reasons. In other words, on several issues, this book doesn't share as much scientific information as could and should be expected.

The most rewarding chapter for me personally was the last one. Unfortunately it's also the shortest one - or actually that may have contributed to its better readability. It connects science with faith, consciousness and E=m². Though I am interested in that, I didn't expect to read about this in this sort of book. Other readers may actually be put off. If you are NOT one of the latter, I recommend reading From Science to God: A Physicist's Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness which is more easy to read and much more fascinating, for sure different from the expectations suggested by its title.

A more popularly written version of the reviewed book is the similar Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex with little overlap.

This book was not designed to be read all the way through. Several pieces of information were repeated from chapter to chapter. In addition, the book was not targeted well. In some places, the authors discuss very basic details of brain anatomy, while in others, they reference facts that only a specialist could know. Overall, the repetitiveness made reading the book boring, and the way they treated the background information would make the book even more boring for the specialist reader and confusing for the lay reader. Some chapters are quite focused and interesting, but overall, I didn't feel the book was an enjoyable read.

This book was overkill on the scientific explanation and not enough on the practical side for those having problems.

A must have for everyone who is interested in sexuality and its scisnce.