Shortlisted for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award One of Five Books Best Literary Science Writing titles in 2023 A New York Times Editors' Choice A Science Friday Best Science Book to Read This Summer A myth-busting voyage into the female body. A camera obscura reflects the world back but dimmer and inverted. Similarly, science has long viewed woman through a warped lens, one focused narrowly on her capacity for reproduction. As a result, there exists a vast knowledge gap when it comes to what we know about half of the bodies on the planet. That is finally changing. Today, a new generation of researchers is turning its gaze to the organs traditionally bound up in baby-making—the uterus, ovaries, and vagina—and illuminating them as part of a dynamic, resilient, and ever-changing whole. Welcome to Vagina Obscura, an odyssey into a woman’s body from a fresh perspective, ushering in a whole new cast of characters. In Boston, a pair of biologists are growing artificial ovaries to counter the cascading health effects of menopause. In Melbourne, a urologist remaps the clitoris to fill in crucial gaps in female sexual anatomy. Given unparalleled access to labs and the latest research, journalist Rachel E. Gross takes readers on a scientific journey to the center of a wonderous world where the uterus regrows itself, ovaries pump out fresh eggs, and the clitoris pulses beneath the surface like a shimmering pyramid of nerves. This paradigm shift is made possible by the growing understanding that sex and gender are not binary; we all share the same universal body plan and origin in the womb. That’s why insights into the vaginal microbiome, ovarian stem cells, and the biology of menstruation don’t mean only a better understanding of female bodies, but a better understanding of male, non-binary, transgender, and intersex bodies—in other words, all bodies. By turns funny, lyrical, incisive, and shocking, Vagina Obscura is a powerful testament to how the landscape of human knowledge can be rewritten to better serve everyone.

Female Arousal and Orgasm: Anatomy, Physiology, Behaviour and Evolution is the first comprehensive and accessible work on all aspects of human female sexual desire, arousal and orgasm. The book attempts to answer basic questions about the female orgasm and questions contradictory information on the topic. The book starts with a summary of important early research on human sex before providing detailed descriptions of female sexual anatomy, histology and neuromuscular biology. It concludes with a discussion of the high heritability of female orgasmicity and evidence for and against female orgasm providing an evolutionary advantage. The author has attempted to gather as much information on the subject as possible, including medical images, anonymized survey data and previously unreported trends. The groundbreaking book gives a scientific perspective on sexual arousal in women, and helps to uncover information gaps about this fascinating yet complex phenomenon. Readership Biologists, general readers, psychologists

"Supported by ample data and suffused with anger,” an award-winning journalist “convincingly recasts this country’s maternal health care system as needlessly dehumanizing” (New York Times Book Review). Modern medicine should make pregnancy and childbirth safer for all. But in Birth Control, award-winning journalist Allison Yarrow reveals how women are controlled, traumatized, injured, and even killed because of the traditionalist practices of medical professionals and hospitals. Ever since doctors stole control of birth from midwives in the 19th century, women have been steamrolled by a male-dominated medical establishment that has everyone convinced that birthing bodies are inherently flawed and that every pregnancy is a crisis that it alone can “solve.” Common medical practices and procedures violate human rights and the law, yet take place daily. Misogyny and racism, not scientific evidence and support, shape the overwhelming majority of America’s four million annual births. Drawing on extensive reporting, expert interviews, an original survey of 1,300 mothers, and her own personal experiences, Yarrow documents how modern maternal health care is insidiously, purposefully designed to take power from women to the detriment of their physical and mental health—not just during labor, but for years after. She then shows a better way, exploring solutions both cutting-edge and ancient to—finally—return power and control to birthing people. Full of urgent insights and heartfelt emotion, Birth Control is an explosive call to action.

A fascinating investigation into the lucrative, minimally regulated, fast-growing industry of egg freezing, from a young reporter on a personal journey into the world of cutting-edge reproductive medicine “An engaging and groundbreaking book.”—Toni Weschler, MPH, author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility Ovaries. Most women have two; journalist Natalie Lampert has only one. Then, in her early twenties, she almost lost it, along with her ability to ever have biological children. Doctors urged her to freeze her eggs, and Lampert started asking questions. The Big Freeze is the story of Lampert’s personal quest to investigate egg freezing, as well as the multibillion-dollar femtech industry, in order to decide the best way to preserve her own fertility. She attended flashy egg-freezing parties, visited high-priced fertility clinics, talked to dozens of women who froze their eggs, toured the facility in Italy where the technology was developed, and even attended a memorial service for thousands of accidentally destroyed embryos. What was once science fiction is now simply science: Fertility can be frozen in time. Between 2009 and 2022, more than 100,000 women in the United States opted to freeze their eggs. Along with in vitro fertilization, egg freezing is touted as a way for women to “have it all” by conquering their biological clocks, in line with the global trend of delaying childbirth. A generation after the Pill, this revolutionary technology offers a new kind of freedom for women. But does egg freezing give women real agency or just the illusion of it? A personal and deeply researched guide to the pros, cons, and many facets of this wildly popular technology, The Big Freeze is a page-turning exploration of the quest to control fertility, with invaluable information that answers the questions women have been afraid to ask—or didn’t know they should ask in the first place.

A sweeping account of male nurturing, explaining how and why men are biologically transformed when they care for babies It has long seemed self-evident that women care for babies and men do other things. Hasn’t it always been so? When evolutionary science came along, it rubber-stamped this venerable division of labor: mammalian males evolved to compete for status and mates, while females were purpose-built to gestate, suckle, and otherwise nurture the victors’ offspring. But come the twenty-first century, increasing numbers of men are tending babies, sometimes right from birth. How can this be happening? Puzzled and dazzled by the tender expertise of new fathers around the world—several in her own family—celebrated evolutionary anthropologist and primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy set out to trace the deep history of male nurturing and explain a surprising departure from everything she had assumed to be “normal.” In Father Time, Hrdy draws on a wealth of research to argue that this ongoing transformation in men is not only cultural, but profoundly biological. Men in prolonged intimate contact with babies exhibit responses nearly identical to those in the bodies and brains of mothers. They develop caring potential few realized men possessed. In her quest to explain how men came to nurture babies, Hrdy travels back through millions of years of human, primate, and mammalian evolution, then back further still to the earliest vertebrates—all while taking into account recent economic and social trends and technological innovations and incorporating new findings from neuroscience, genetics, endocrinology, and more. The result is a masterful synthesis of evolutionary and historical perspectives that expands our understanding of what it means to be a man—and what the implications might be for society and our species.

A joyful and indispensable guide filled with astonishing, important, and little-known information about the vagina that will equip a new generation to make informed choices about their sexual health and happiness. The Wonder Down Under is a comprehensive guide to a miraculous and complex part of the body that too few of us (regardless of gender) are all that familiar with--the vagina. With wisdom, humor, and scientific aplomb, medical student Ellen Støkken Dahl and Dr. Nina Brochmann take readers on a fascinating journey of female sexual organs and sexual health--from the clitoris to contraception to cervical cancer. More than a user's manual, this book is the funny, frank tribute to the vagina that we have been waiting for. The Wonder Down Under is filled with astonishing, essential, and little-known information--relayed with both medical expertise and genuine empathy. Did you know, for instance, that female and male sex organs are merely variations on the same basic structure? Or that there's no such thing as a virginity test--because examining the hymen cannot meaningfully indicate whether or not someone's had sex? Brochmann and Dahl have written a tour-de-force about the biology, anatomy, and reality of the female body, examining the many ways in which widespread misinformation and silence about the vagina have been harmful to women over time. The Wonder Down Under makes crucial contributions to the discussion: the book was an instant bestseller that sold out in its native Norway in just three days. Since then it has been acquired by publishers in more than two dozen countries around the world. The Wonder Down Under is a joyful and indispensable book that will educate readers of all kinds and equip a new generation to make informed choices about their sexual well-being.

An illustrated book that reveals all the facts thoughtfully and frankly. The vagina: It can be surprising to learn how little many women know about this important part of their anatomy. It is not generally a topic of conversation and, if mentioned at all, its name is cloaked in euphemisms like "down there." This book is for all women -- prepubescent, pubescent and adult -- no matter how much they already know. Supportive male partners also would benefit from reading it. Accessible and straightforward, this illustrated guide reveals all the functions of the female reproductive system, its various parts, its practical purposes, and its pleasures and problems. The facts are presented in a generous spirit with light humor to help readers learn the facts in private, without embarrassment or discomfort, and to better understand this essential part of female health and well-being. The topics include: The Vagina ... and Its Neighborhood. Where Is It? Vagina Anatomy: What Does It Look Like? Perineum, Vulva, Labia, Vestibule, Hymen, Clitoris The Vagina's Neighbors: Bladder and Rectum The Vagina in All Its Forms and In Everyday Life What Does the Vagina Secrete? What Is the Vagina For? The Vagina at all Ages: Birth, Puberty, Adulthood, Menopause The Vagina and New Life: Pregnancy, Childbirth, Breastfeeding The Vagina for Pleasure: Lubrication, Orgasm, the G-Spot, Sex Toys, Vaginal Farts Contraceptives: The Pill, Vaginal Ring, Implant, Desogestrol, IUD, Condoms, Diaphragm and Spermicides Vagina Problems and Illnesses: Vaginismus, Pain During Intercourse, Deep Pains, Superficial Pain, Prolapse (How to Avoid A "Fall"): Perineal Rehabilitation, Surgery, Cervical Diseases, Uterine Diseases, Vulvovaginitis, Mycosis, Vaginosis, The "Outsiders" Sexually Transmitted Infections: Chlamydia, Ureaplasm and Mycoplasma Infection, Trichomoniasis, Gonococcal Disease, Infection with Papillomavirus, Genital Herpes, Syphilis.