The more we know about the nature of reproduction, the more we can control it… By doing so we can also control our own future, suggests biological anthropologist Robert Martin in How We Do It, his ambitious survey of reproductive science. In a couple of hundred pages he covers 1.5 billion years of sex, encompassing the sexual evolution of microorganisms, mating practices, development of the human brain, and even cultural differences in breastfeeding. All of this is intended “to provide much-needed context” for our reproductive behavior today, Martin writes. “Successful breeding is the key to evolution.”
A reader with sufficient determination can infer a lot from the facts. For example, Martin notes that the shape of a woman’s pelvis has placed a limit on the size of the brain at birth. So might we expect an effect on human intelligence as caesarean sections become more prevalent?
Read the full book review here: Control sex for humanity’s future
Related on the SLP
Additional Resources:
- “Sex selection has the potential to skew future generations,” Guardian
- “DNA screening is part of the new eugenics—and that’s okay,” Genetic Literacy Project
