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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Old Record Holder Displaced!, January 26, 2004
For 25 years, "A Pattern Language" (C. Alexander, et al) has occupied first place in my "Most Human Wisdom In a Book Cover" category. Leonard Shlain's "Sex, Time, and Power" has just replaced it. Surely, even amongst the well educated, the relationship between men and women holds more misunderstanding than any other human endeavor. Dr. Shlain's insightful study sheds more light into this thorny area than the sum of all other similar books I have read. Although the writing style is personal and humerous, this book is a relatively slow read due to the sheer density of ideas presented and quantity of supporting documentation supplied. Every time I loan out this book, it proves very difficult to get back. It is a slooow read that borrowers do not want to relinquish until they have finished. After a few weeks rumination time, I find them asking me if the book is available again. Get your own copy! Anyone trying to make sense of "The Urge to Merge" will find themselves returning to this fertile well of ideas again and again. As a related aside, attending a book store talk given by Dr. Shlain, I found him to be every bit an excellent speaker as he is an excellent writer. If given the chance to hear him speak, don't miss it!
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ferrous Female, August 28, 2003
Many books have been written regarding relationships between men and women. Some even suggest that we are of different species and it is part of a cosmic joke that we are attracted to and must rely upon one another. If this is the kind of book you are attracted to, you will be quite disappointed in this work by talented author Leonard Shlain. As in his previous two books "Art and Physics" and "The Alphabet Vs The Goddess" Shlain presents an observation that has troubled him. After a thorough search of the literature fails to satisfy his curiosity, some kind of internal dialectic occurs and a well reasoned "what if" process is presented. The stimulus for this story started when Shlain, as a young medical student, could not accept the casual dismissal of his question "Why is the normal hemoglobin for women less than for men?" All humans rely on oxygen dependent metabolic processes. Women require just as much oxygen carrying, iron based, hemoglobin as men. Why would nature create women to lose this essential product every month in her menses, while pregnant and also in childbirth? That question is the basis for a well reasoned work that presents possible answers that should stimulate much further discussion and interest. Shlain, also being an exceptional educator, presents pertinent human physiology, anatomy and psychology in an understandable and yet non-patronizing manner. While this book reads like an entertaining `who done it' novel: the reward is not only a provocative explanation but a worth while educational process.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting mix of factual and speculative elements, March 14, 2005
I bought this book because I had immensely enjoyed Matt Ridley's book on sexuality and evolution, The Red Queen. Whereas Ridley goes into excruciating detail about how certain evolutionary principles have affected a wide range of species, Shlain concentrates entirely on human evolution.
In the initial chapters, Shlain provides extensive explanations of the medical aspects of sex and childbirth. Shlain knows how to make these details interesting by highlighting their relevance. For example, he explains how the disproportionately large head of the human fetus endangered the lives of prehistoric women, and why the female tendency to lose iron was such a significant issue in ancient times. And these points are only the beginning. The first few chapters contain a dozen or so similar insights.
After Shlain provides the requisite background information, the book takes a more speculative turn. For the sake of argument, women are treated as a separate species, which Shlain calls gynosapiens. Because of certain evolutionary factors, gynosapiens were the first to become aware of time and mortality. In particular, sex was an act which carried potentially fatal implications for prehistoric women. Because the stakes were so high, gynosapiens took control of their own sexuality; they could not afford to be as carefree as men.
The subsequent evolution of male behavior (and society as a whole) is therefore explained in terms of male efforts to negotiate sexual relationships with women. According to Shlain, language itself evolved because the glibber male stood a better chance of succeeding with females. Most men (and women, I suspect) would agree that a significant portion of contemporary male behavior is motivated by sexual ambition. It is therefore not too much of a stretch to suggest that this motivation could have determined the evolution of human society at a fundamental level.
The author occasionally lapses into even more speculative arguments. For example, he proposes how color-blindedness, baldness, and homosexuality could have been useful characteristics in the early human gene pool. While these points are backed up by only minimal data, his arguments are reasonable. Furthermore, one must remember that any argument about prehistoric humans will necessarily rely on a fair amount of speculation.
Shlain has obviously spent a lifetime researching and reflecting on these issues. You may not agree with every one of his conclusions, but you are sure to finish this book with some valuable insights into human nature.
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