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.
Simon LeVay is a British-born neuroscientist who has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He has written ten previous books, including the New York Times best-seller, When Science Goes Wrong.
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这本书的语言风格简直是一场文字的盛宴,作者的叙事功力炉火纯青,完全没有那种学术著作常见的晦涩和矫揉造作。他似乎有一种魔力,能将最复杂、最敏感的社会现象,用一种近乎诗意的、却又异常清晰的方式娓娓道来。我常常在阅读时,会因为某个绝妙的比喻或者一个精准到位的洞察而停下来,回味许久。那种感觉就像是,你原本以为自己对某个议题已经有了相当的认识,但作者总能在不经意间,用一种全新的、令人耳目一新的视角将它重新构建。他的行文节奏感极强,时而紧凑有力,如同鼓点敲击着读者的心房;时而又舒缓悠长,让人得以沉浸在细腻的情感描摹中。我尤其欣赏他引用他人观点时的那种精准度,既尊重了原始思想的精髓,又巧妙地将其融入到自己的论证体系中,使得整本书的知识体系既广博又具有内在的统一性。读完一个章节,常常会有一种精神被梳洗过的畅快感,迫不及待地想知道下一页会带来怎样的惊喜。
评分这本书的结构安排简直是教科书级别的范本,逻辑的递进严密得让人叹为观止。作者显然是花费了大量心血来构建这个知识的骨架,确保每一个论点都有坚实的基础支撑,并且自然而然地导向下一个更深层次的探讨。章节之间的过渡处理得非常流畅自然,没有那种生硬的“承上启下”,更像是河流的分支,水到渠成,引导着读者的思维不断向下游探索。我发现自己很少需要频繁地回顾前文来理解当前的内容,这充分说明了作者在铺陈线索时考虑的周全性。这种清晰的脉络感,极大地降低了理解复杂概念的认知负荷,让读者能够更专注于内容本身而非迷失于结构之中。尤其是在处理那些容易引起争议或混淆的议题时,作者更是展现了高超的组织能力,将对立的观点放置在恰当的位置,使得整个论述场域显得既全面又平衡。这本书的结构本身,就是一次对理性思考过程的生动演示。
评分这本书的封面设计简直是天才之作,那种大胆的色彩搭配和极具冲击力的排版,让我一拿到手就忍不住想要立刻翻开。它散发着一种难以言喻的、混合着复古与前卫的气息,仿佛在预示着里面要探讨的议题绝非等闲之辈。装帧的质感也无可挑剔,拿在手里沉甸甸的,透露出一种沉稳的重量感,这让我更加确信,我将要进入的,是一个经过深思熟虑、精心打磨的精神世界。我特别喜欢封面上使用的那种颗粒感很强的印刷效果,它让整个视觉体验充满了手工的温度,而不是那种冷冰冰的数字化产物。而且,那个字体的选择,既有权威性又不失亲和力,成功地在严肃性与可读性之间找到了完美的平衡点。翻开扉页,那干净的留白和精致的字体设计,每一点都彰显了出版方对这本书内容的尊重。读者的体验,从接触到实物的那一刻起,就已经被这本书设定在一个非常高的基准线上,让人对接下来阅读的内容充满了期待和敬畏。这本书的物理形态本身就是一种宣言,一种无声的邀请,邀请我们进入一场关于理解与认知的深度探索旅程。
评分这本书在细节的处理上,展现了作者近乎偏执的严谨性。我注意到,无论是引用的数据、历史案例的重述,还是对专业术语的界定时,都显得非常审慎和扎实。这种对“事实”的尊重,使得整本书的论述充满了不可辩驳的力量感。我特别留意了那些看似次要的脚注和附录部分,发现它们同样信息量巨大,提供了进一步深入研究的丰富资源,这对于希望进行学术延伸的读者来说,是无价之宝。在描述具体情境时,作者没有停留在空泛的概括,而是用许多鲜活、生动的微观案例来佐证宏观的理论,这些案例的选择极具代表性,仿佛将读者带到了事件发生的现场,大大增强了论点的说服力和代入感。这种对材料的深度挖掘和细致打磨,使得整本书的厚度和深度得到了极大的提升,让人感受到作者在学术耕耘上的不懈努力和对读者负责任的态度。
评分这本书给我带来的最大感受是一种深刻的、具有建设性的反思氛围。它不是那种只会抛出问题却不提供解决方向的论著,而是真正激励读者去思考“我们如何才能做得更好?”的引导者。阅读过程中,我发现自己不断地在与书中的观点进行“对话”,我时常会停下来审视自己过往的认知盲区和那些未经检验的假设。它巧妙地避开了许多人文学科常见的说教口吻,而是采用了一种邀请式的、平等的姿态与读者交流,使得我们愿意主动接纳那些可能挑战我们既有世界观的新见解。这种潜移默化的影响,远比直接的灌输来得更为持久和深刻。读完之后,我感觉自己的思想疆界被拓宽了,不仅是对某个特定议题的理解深化了,更重要的是,我学会了一种更具同理心和批判性的思维框架,可以用于审视未来遇到的任何复杂社会现象。这是一本真正能改变你看待世界方式的书。
评分生物书
评分It is a great book. It mainly discusses "the reason why" some people are homosexual, that is, a somewhat joint effect of hormone and genes.
评分生物书
评分就只说了gay里偏女性,les里偏男性的群体的可能成因,激素在早期发育阶段的影响等。没有很厉害的感觉。比较想知道那些性状偏差不大的群体的相关统计学结果。
评分It is a great book. It mainly discusses "the reason why" some people are homosexual, that is, a somewhat joint effect of hormone and genes.
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