Simon LeVay

In this book, neuroscientist Simon LeVay summarizes a wealth of scientific evidence that points towards a radical new explanation of what makes a person gay, straight or bisexual: Sexual orientation results primarily from an interaction between genes, sex hormones, and the developing brain--biological processes that are already underway in the womb.

The Science of Sexual Orientation

Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why

Science is the world's new religion - but what happens when it goes terribly wrong? An innocent young black man is convicted of rape and sent to prison for 25 years on the basis of 'infallible' DNA evidence which turns out to be completely wrong. A long-distance runner's Parkinson's Disease is treated with revolutionary neuroscience techniques which leave a foetus growing in his brain. A study into why children stutter ends up ruining their lives when scientists deliberately introduce speech impediments and, to their horror, find they are permanent.

Twelve Tales from the Dark Side of Discovery

When Science Goes Wrong

Sharon McBride Valente

This textbook introduces students to the diversity of human sexual expression and the diversity of perspectives from which sexuality can be viewed, from biology and medicine, evolutionary theory, to cognitive science and social psychology. The authors encourage critical thinking and enable students to contribute constructively and non-judgmentally to the social debate on sexual issues. The second edition presents new coverage on gay marriage, sex education, minority issues, recent brain imaging studies, advances in contraceptive technology and STD treatment, and sexual arousal disorders. The text is also more accessible with reorganized chapters on women's and men's bodies and enhanced pedagogy.

Human Sexuality

What causes a child to grow up gay or straight? In this book, neuroscientist Simon LeVay summarizes a wealth of scientific evidence that points to one inescapable conclusion: Sexual orientation results primarily from an interaction between genes, sex hormones, and the cells of the developing body and brain. LeVay helped create this field in 1991 with a much-publicized study in Science, where he reported on a difference in the brain structure between gay and straight men. Since then, an entire scientific discipline has sprung up around the quest for a biological explanation of sexual orientation. In this book, LeVay provides a clear explanation of where the science stands today, taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of laboratories that specialize in genetics, endocrinology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and family demographics. He describes, for instance, how researchers have manipulated the sex hormone levels of animals during development, causing them to mate preferentially with animals of their own gender. LeVay also reports on the prevalence of homosexual behavior among wild animals, ranging from Graylag geese to the Bonobo chimpanzee. Although many details remain unresolved, the general conclusion is quite clear: A person's sexual orientation arises in large part from biological processes that are already underway before birth. LeVay also makes it clear that these lines of research have a lot of potential because--far from seeking to discover "what went wrong" in the lives of gay people, attempting to develop "cures" for homosexuality, or returning to traditional explanations that center on parent-child relationships, various forms of "training," or early sexual experiences--our modern scientists are increasingly seeing sexual variety as something to be valued, celebrated, and welcomed into society.

Sex, after hunger, may be the most powerful motivating force in our lives. It drives us to seek intimate contact with others and to form relationships that may be fleeting or lifelong, blissful or troubled. Yet many mysteries surround sex and sexuality: Why don’t we reproduce by virgin birth? Why does so much of our sexual behavior have nothing to do with reproduction? Why isn’t everyone heterosexual? How does the brain create sexual arousal? How do sexual kinks develop? Is porn harmful? What is the relationship between sex and love? In Attraction, Love, Sex, the renowned scholar Simon LeVay introduces readers to a memorable cast of researchers trying to answer these questions and many more. A biologist dredges a New Zealand lake for asexual mud snails. Psychologists measure whether eating a good meal changes a man’s idea of female beauty. Physiologists probe orifices with miniature toilet plungers and place lovers in brain scanners. Geneticists reconstruct the sex crimes of Genghis Khan. Neuroscientists create mice whose sexual behavior can be switched on and off. A zoologist traps and releases 260,000 voles and launches a new science of love. LeVay distills vast expertise on the biology and psychology of sex into an engaging and easy-to-understand survey with scientific acumen, a critical eye, and a sense of humor. This book reveals how scientists are unraveling the secrets of sex and, in the process, shattering many traditional ideas and prejudices.

The Inside Story

Attraction, Love, Sex

John D. Baldwin

Janice I. Baldwin

In this textbook, Simon LeVay and Janice Baldwin aim to help students understand the diversity of human sexual expression as well as the diversity of perspectives from which sexuality can be studied. Well-known for its high-quality presentation of biological aspects of sexuality, the book also devotes rich coverage to the insights gained from cognitive science, social psychology, sociology, feminism, and cross-cultural studies, along with both moral and political discourse on sexual themes. The Fourth Edition provides up-to-date coverage of all topics, ranging from gay marriage in New York to the latest developments in contraceptive technology and exciting findings on pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV. Still the leader in terms of its biological coverage, the Fourth Edition also has expanded coverage of many other issues, ranging from sex-therapy exercises to learning theories of gender and paraphilias.

Discovering Human Sexuality

Brilliant scientific successes have helped shape our world, and are always celebrated. However, for every victory, there are no doubt numerous little-known blunders. Neuroscientist Simon LeVay brings together a collection of fascinating, yet shocking, stories of failure from recent scientific history in When Science Goes Wrong. From the fields of forensics and microbiology to nuclear physics and meteorology, in When Science Goes Wrong LeVay shares twelve true essays illustrating a variety of ways in which the scientific process can go awry. Failures, disasters and other negative outcomes of science can result not only from bad luck, but from causes including failure to follow appropriate procedures and heed warnings, ethical breaches, quick pressure to obtain results, and even fraud. Often, as LeVay notes, the greatest opportunity for notable mishaps occurs when science serves human ends. LeVay shares these examples: To counteract the onslaught of Parkinson’s disease, a patient undergoes cutting-edge brain surgery using fetal transplants, and is later found to have hair and cartilage growing inside his brain. In 1999, NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft is lost due to an error in calculation, only months after the agency adopts a policy of “Faster, Better, Cheaper.” Britain’s Bracknell weather forecasting team predicts two possible outcomes for a potentially violent system, but is pressured into releasing a ‘milder’ forecast. The BBC’s top weatherman reports there is “no hurricane”, while later the storm hits, devastating southeast England. Ignoring signals of an imminent eruption, scientists decide to lead a party to hike into the crater of a dormant volcano in Columbia, causing injury and death. When Science Goes Wrong provides a compelling glimpse into human ambition in scientific pursuit.

The Sexual Brain asserts that human sexual feelings and behavior can best be understood in terms of the development, structure, and function of the brain circuits that produce them. A new afterword to this paperback edition examines the work of Dean Hamer and his colleagues, who in 1993 produced evidence of a gene that influences sexual orientation in men.

The Sexual Brain

Argues scientific research shows homosexuality is not merely a set of behaviors anyone might show, but that homosexuals are a distinct group of people, and discusses the social implications

The Use and Abuse of Research Into Homosexuality

Queer Science

David Koerner

The discovery of life on other planets would be perhaps the most momentous revelation in human history, more disorienting and more profound than either the Copernican or Darwinian revolutions, which knocked the earth from the centre of the universe and humankind from its position of loftyself-regard. In Here Be Dragons, astronomer David Koerner and neurobiologist Simon LeVay offer a scientifically compelling and colourful account of the search for life beyond Earth.The authors survey the work of biologists, cosmologists, computer theorists, NASA engineers, SETI researchers, roboticists, and UFO enthusiasts and debunkers as they attempt to answer the greatest remaining question facing humankind: Are we alone? From their 'safe haven of scepticism' the authorsventure into the 'rough seas of speculation', where theory and evidence run the gamut from hard science to hocus pocus.Arguing that the universe is spectacularly suited for the evolution of living creatures, Koerner and LeVay give us ringside seats at the great debates of Big Science. The contentious arguments about what really happens in evolution, the acrimonious UFO controversy, and the debate over intelligenceversus artificial intelligence shed new light on the wildly divergent claims about the universe and life's place in it. The authors argue that while no direct evidence of extraterrestrial life yet exists, habitats and chemical building blocks for life abound in the universe. A wealth of newastonomical techniques and space missions may provide this evidence early in the next century. Lucidly written and scientifically rigorous, Here Be Dragons presents everything we know thus far about the emergence of intelligent life here on Earth, and perhaps, beyond.

Simon LeVay

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