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Y: The Descent of Men Hardcover – May 15, 2003

by Steve Jones (Author)

21 customer reviews

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Men's beards grow faster when their bearers expect some sex. Fewer sperm cells are made in summer. Circumcised boys are more frightened of injections than boys who have not undergone the operation. And the average length of a man's penis is less than six inches, while that of a blue whale is ten feet.
These are only a few of the remarkable facts that spill out in Y: The Descent of Men. With marvelous literary flair, the acclaimed scientist and author Steve Jones offers a landmark exploration of maleness, based on today's explosion of biological research about what makes a male -- a topic of consuming interest to at least half the population. From what males consider to be the "prince of chromosomes" -- the Y -- to novel insights into men's hormones, hair loss, and the hydraulics of man's most intimate organ, Jones lays out the case for and against masculinity.
But the self-proclaimed "biologist in the bedroom" goes far beyond discussing straight science. He writes, for instance, of a meeting between Napoleon and Czar Alexander in which they discussed baldness cures rather than matters of state. And, as many angry males have found out, to the law fatherhood means more than genes. A father who is not a biological parent but who leaves a family with children still has responsibility for the offspring.
Steve Jones hints at a startling truth: men are the second sex. The Y chromosome is no longer an excuse for excess. Compared with their partners, men are in relative decline, whether in social status or in length of life. Both halves of the population have to learn to cope with the Y chromosome. This book helps show them how.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shriveled, decrepit and of little use except for sex, the Y chromosome is an apt metaphor for post-modern manhood in this eye-opening exploration of the biology of maleness. Jones, a geneticist and author of Darwin's Ghost, traces the development of maleness from its origins as a parasitic stratagem by which certain microbes forced others to replicate their genes for them, to the dawning age of cloning, which could, in theory, allow women to dispense with men's reproductive services altogether. Along the way he investigates the essentials of maleness, including baldness, the perverse, multi-faceted and never-ending competition for the favor of choosy females, and the many surgical, chemical and mechanical reinforcements men call on to stand firm in battle. Writing in a snappy, erudite style replete with droll euphemisms, Jones takes readers on an engaging tour of the Darwinian view of sex as the ultimately absurd outcome of natural selection and clashing reproductive strategies. But he is no essentialist defender of patriarchy. Indeed, in his treatment males emerge as the weaker sex-a complex and fragile variation on the sturdy female model, whose extra testosterone makes them shorter-lived, more prone to disease and suicide, less able than females to cope in contemporary society and doomed to descent in the coming "age of women." Men may find this book demoralizing, and Jones's case overstated, but women may take a certain grim satisfaction from it-and readers of both sexes will find it very educational.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

British science writer Jones declares that it's men, not women, who are the weaker sex. Even within their embryonic development, much can go awry. If they manage to emerge from gestation anatomically correct, boys must hope they don't carry one of the many genetic diseases that congregate on the Y chromosome. Men's grievances against evolution don't stop there, but Jones expounds on bad news in paradoxically jaunty fashion. This style allows him to elucidate the complexities of genetics in readable, clarifying prose and confirms that Jones is as fine an expositor here as he was in his previous book on evolution, Darwin's Ghost (2000). Jones' sardonic wit enlivens the molecular foundations of maleness, explaining hormones, baldness, sperm count, and even lineages of bastardy in language that is both educational and entertaining. Great general-interest science material. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product details

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Revised edition (May 15, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0618139303
ISBN-13: 978-1615517268
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 21 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,532,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2186 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Gender Studies > Men
- #3174 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Men's Health
- #3657 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Genetics

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alex

Sociopolitical policies makes sense now

July 5, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It’s a must read for females. Women were conditioned for a lifetime of self hatred in which benefits those who possess the Y chromosome.

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September 15, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Such a unique perspective on genders.

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August 10, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The book taught me some biological aspects of the male species. It was a bit depressing though concerning the future of maleness.

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Randall Cleveland

Do you lack semen- and penis-related trivia? Oh man, buy this book.

September 23, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I bought this book after reading numerous reviews announcing it as a clever, thought-provoking examination of maleness and the shifting place of men in society.

What I got was a couple hundred pages full of bizarre and vaguely entertaining trivia facts about the penis, the foreskin, the testicles, semen, baldness, and body hair.

There's a whole lot of words used but not much really said. All I've learned is a couple of surefire things to say that bring cocktail party conversations to a screeching halt.

Comment

March 4, 2011

Format: Paperback

This is a fascinating look at male genetics and biology and makes for enlightening reading. I think it may be of more interest to males due to the very gender specific content, but saying that women may well find it an interesting read for an insight into the male condition. I agree with an earlier review where it says this is a touch long winded and I have to say that after the superb 'Language of the Genes' by the same author, I've felt disappointed by every thing I've read of his since. This has plenty to say, but it could have been said so much better (hence the four stars). Overall, a good read about those of us with that 'y' chromosome and worth sticking with for some interesting facts.

Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

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Laurel Kenner

Great science writing; Kindle edition needed!

May 25, 2017

Format: Paperback

This is an incredibly important book by one of the best science writers around. Great writing. I see that it has some negative reviews, and I'm guessing that the detractors may not have actually read the book. So much interesting information. I can't imagine why no Kindle edition is available.

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September 2, 2013

Format: Paperback

Chapter one's first word, other than the title, sets the stage. And the stage is really an advertisement for Gilbert & Sullivan - Princess Ida / Gorshin, Christie, Collins, Opera World in short,this light subject is given light treatment to keep us from getting too depressed. It reminds me in many ways of Brian Sykes Adam's Curse: A Future without Men and also a little to The Decline of Males: The First Look at an Unexpected New World for Men and Women

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Down for the count?

July 2, 2003

Format: Hardcover

An episode in Star Trek - The Next Generation portrays the Enterprise crew encountering a planet populated entirely by androgynes. The cast representing these creatures is clearly composed of only women. As clones, their appearance and outlook is nearly uniform and gender becomes a social ill. If Steve Jones is correct, this condition is the future of the human species. In this book Jones gives a full account of the rise and descent of masculinity, from the formation of the Y [male] chromosome to the current decline in sperm count in human society. As Jones makes clear, we all start in the womb as neuters, but various processes dictated by the father's chromosomes, turn some of us into males.
Jones opens his account with a touch of irony - it was a woman, Nettie Stevens, who identified the male chromosome in 1905. It took nearly a century to perceive the gene controlling sex determination - the SRY [sex recognition gene]. From there Jones explains the role of that short, 20 gene DNA string and its impact. Embryo development relies on sperm-borne chemicals. This input is part of the reason maleness drives the pace of evolution. Sperm is an invader, and the body resists invaders. The chemical changes reflect that fundamental dichotomy and there's nothing universal about male sperm. Its variety reflects the rapid evolutionary pathways taken by various organisms. And few species have evolved as rapidly as humans, Jones reminds us.
That haste, however, has led to vulnerability. Male lines, particularly in our own species, die out quicker. Jones' example is expressed in the recognition that all the family lineages since William the Conquerer had died out. Nor are his examples confined to humans. Hermaphroditic slugs in the French Pyranees are exhibiting an increase in female-only lines. Given his evidence for this happening in modern men, one can only wonder at the cause of this unisex phenomenon.
For it's modern men that are the target of this book. Whatever forces in evolution have reduced the size and impact of the Y chromosome, modern civilization has exacerbated its decline. Clinics in various nations record reduced sperm counts, notably in Italian taxi drivers, American businessmen, Scots shopkeepers. Jones isn't applauding these trends as some proto-feminist. He wants, through this book, for males to become aware of the fate their descendents will confront. Maleness is likely to disappear, and offers pointers to prevent that extinction. More focus, he stresses, needs to be made on the impact of various foodstuffs and industrial chemicals.
Depressing as much of this sounds, there is much to be learned from this book. Jones' ability to impart good science in a readable style makes this book an ideal acquisition. While facts galore are presented here, pedantic stumbling blocks are not. He has no more axe to grind than the desire to increase our awareness of ourselves, both male and female. As he notes, understanding of the operations of sexual mechanisms is still in its infancy. This book will stand for some time until more of our body's hidden secrets are revealed. For we men, let us hope it's not too late. The recent announcement of the mapping of the Y chromosome renders Jones' forecast obsolete, but most of his data remains valid. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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