If Mary Roach ever writes a book called 'Worm: The Curious Science of Deep-Sea Tube Worms and Hydrothermal Vents,' I would still read it, because she's one of those rare writers who can tackle the most obscure unpleasantness and distill the data into a hilarious and informative package. ' -New York Times Book Review, Sunday, March 30, 2008. In 'Bonk,' she turns to sex, covering such territory as dried animal excreta used as vaginal 'drying agents' a rat's tail 'lost' in a penis and a man named William Harvey, patent-holder for a rolling toaster-size metal box outfitted with a motorized 'resiliently pliable artificial penis.' In short, she takes an entertaining topic and showcases its creepier side.Īnd then she makes the creepy funny. 'In her previous books, 'Stiff' and a follow-up, 'Spook,' Mary Roach set out to make creepy topics (cadavers, the afterlife) fun. 'I'm left with a lingering sense of surprise that there are still a good number of mysteries in the realm of sexual physiology.Synopsis | Table of Contents | Reviews | Excerpts Roach says that despite numerous studies on sex conducted over the years, much remains to be learned about coital mechanics. 'The 1920s were almost like the '60s in a way - and then we swung back to a more conservative era.'ĭickenson later inspired Kinsey to conduct his famous studies of American sexual habits, she says. 'There were sex manuals at the time that were encouraging women to try being on top,' Roach says. During that era, the aforementioned Dickenson, a Brooklyn-based gynecologist, became the first to take a laboratory-based approach to examining what happens physiologically when people have sex. Roach says the 1920s were a surprisingly racy decade for sex research.

Shafik's conclusion? Rodents in leisure suits don't get much play. In a conversation with Robert Siegel, Roach describes the evolution of sex research: from studies by Alfred Kinsey and the lesser-known Robert Latou Dickenson, to the Egyptian doctor Ahmed Shafik, who dressed rats in polyester pants.

Her previous works include Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, on the science of death, and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, a look at what happens after we die.

That is just one of the many curious findings Mary Roach writes about in her new book, Bonk: The Curious Couple of Science and Sex, which examines the history of research on copulation.

Eliminating polyester from your wardrobe may be a smart move if you're looking to attract a mate.

Bonk mary