On the Origin of Sex addresses the compelling question: What is the point of sex? Professor of biological sciences Lixing Sun (The Fairness Instinct) illustrates that asexual reproduction initially seems more efficient from a purely mechanical standpoint. There are no partner requirements--that is, no energy wasted on courtship rituals or competition, and the full complement of an organism's genes passes on to the next generations. Part of the answer is that "sex reshuffles the genetic deck, mixing genes from the broader pool and dealing out fresh combinations with every new generation," thus avoiding the accumulating mutations in asexual reproduction that, over time, can lead to extinction.
Sun's work examines life in all its forms across the globe and is in no way confined to mammals. There are examples of fungi with thousands of distinct mating types, slime molds whose sexual architecture defies easy categorization, plants that toggle between reproductive strategies depending on environmental cues, and fish that change sex not as anomaly but as part of ordinary life. The cumulative effect is a profound correcting of assumptions most readers never knew they held.
Sun doesn't shy away from following science into cultural territory. Questions about the biological basis of human sex and gender are addressed with a winning combination of empirical rigor and engaging writing. Sun reports what the biology shows and what it cannot yet resolve with the confidence of a researcher who has spent his career in conversation with his subject. On the Origin of Sex: The Weird and Wonderful Science of Reproduction excels at making complex population genetics and evolutionary modeling feel both intuitive and entertaining. --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.