What do you think?
Rate this book
Sex, Genes & Rock 'n' Roll: How Evolution Has Shaped the Modern World
Why are people getting fatter?
Why do so many rock stars end up dead at 27?
Is there any hope of curbing population growth, rampant consumerism and the environmental devastation they wreak?
Evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks argues that the origins of these twenty-first century problems can be found where the ancient forces of evolution collide with modern culture and economics. In Sex, Genes and Rock ’n’ Roll Brooks explores a tasting platter of topics, from the frivolous to the tragic – falling in love, making music, our obsession with rock ’n’ roll, sexual conflict, fertility, obesity, consumption, ageing and more – illustrating how evolution stands alongside economics, anthropology, psychology and political science in shaping our world.
Why do so many rock stars end up dead at 27?
Is there any hope of curbing population growth, rampant consumerism and the environmental devastation they wreak?
Evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks argues that the origins of these twenty-first century problems can be found where the ancient forces of evolution collide with modern culture and economics. In Sex, Genes and Rock ’n’ Roll Brooks explores a tasting platter of topics, from the frivolous to the tragic – falling in love, making music, our obsession with rock ’n’ roll, sexual conflict, fertility, obesity, consumption, ageing and more – illustrating how evolution stands alongside economics, anthropology, psychology and political science in shaping our world.
306 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2011
12 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Rob Brooks
2 books9 followersROB BROOKS is an evolutionary biologist whose expertise concerns the conflicting evolutionary interests that make sex sizzle and render reproduction complex. Born and educated in South Africa, with BSc(Hons) and Ph.D. from the University of the Witwatersrand, he moved to Australia in 1997 to work at James Cook University, Townsville.
He is Scientia Professor of Evolution at UNSW, Sydney, where he founded and directed the Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, and established the UNSW Grand Challenges Program.
His first book, Sex, Genes and Rock ’n’ Roll: How evolution has shaped the modern world (2011), won the Queensland Literary Award for Science Writing. He also won Australia’s most prestigious award for science communication, the Eureka Prize in 2013.
His second book, Artificial Intimacy: Virtual Friends, Digital Lovers and Algorithmic Matchmakers is to be published in 2021.
He is Scientia Professor of Evolution at UNSW, Sydney, where he founded and directed the Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, and established the UNSW Grand Challenges Program.
His first book, Sex, Genes and Rock ’n’ Roll: How evolution has shaped the modern world (2011), won the Queensland Literary Award for Science Writing. He also won Australia’s most prestigious award for science communication, the Eureka Prize in 2013.
His second book, Artificial Intimacy: Virtual Friends, Digital Lovers and Algorithmic Matchmakers is to be published in 2021.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 27, 2021
The brain volume seems to be stagnant over thousands of years. The food habits are about the same and there are no signs that the humans are adapting to the Fast Food diet, but rather that the old ways of feeding are just as good as they were ten thousand years ago. Hence, it is obvious that a musical style that is less than a century old proves the humans are evolving.
Why the scam? Because Brooks is a leech who has never hold a honest job in the life outside the Academia. And now he needs research money to hire more nephews and nieces and feel like the Chieftain he sees himself at the taxpayer's expense.
Why the scam? Because Brooks is a leech who has never hold a honest job in the life outside the Academia. And now he needs research money to hire more nephews and nieces and feel like the Chieftain he sees himself at the taxpayer's expense.
December 15, 2017
Wasn't a fan of the science he used.
August 9, 2024
3 1/2 stars
February 15, 2013
Rob Brooks (professor of University of New South Wales) believes that many issues facing our world (obesity, overpopulation, even why we love Rock Stars) can be better understood through the lens of evolutionary biology and the simple principals of natural selection.
A few ideas Brooks supports:
When the population moved from hunter/gatherer to agriculture the availability of carbohydrates increased dramatically and so did Obesity and tooth decay (dentists should be thankful). According to the WHO for the first time the number of people who are dangerously obese has surpassed those that are malnourished.
Obseity has flipped. In industrialized countries the poor are more prone to obesity (carbs/fast food is cheap) and the wealthy are healthier (fruits/vegetables/lean meats are expensive). According to Brooks we are still wired to eat as a matter of storage..as if in the future there may be a time where no readily available calories are available (like our ancestors), of course for the majority of us this is no longer the case. We eat and store and simply get fat.
Brooks goes on to discuss different fertility patterns of various countries (50 countries including South Africa's president still practice polygamy), the cost of child rearing, and why many rock stars (Cobain, Winehouse, Morrison) die young.
This book is an interesting read. But Brooks is unduely hard on Christians..and condescending to those that accept the idea of marriage and "the ancient gospels." I wonder if he would be surprised to know that there are all different flavors of Christians that are also scientists and accept evolution to different degrees.
Just 3 stars.
A few ideas Brooks supports:
When the population moved from hunter/gatherer to agriculture the availability of carbohydrates increased dramatically and so did Obesity and tooth decay (dentists should be thankful). According to the WHO for the first time the number of people who are dangerously obese has surpassed those that are malnourished.
Obseity has flipped. In industrialized countries the poor are more prone to obesity (carbs/fast food is cheap) and the wealthy are healthier (fruits/vegetables/lean meats are expensive). According to Brooks we are still wired to eat as a matter of storage..as if in the future there may be a time where no readily available calories are available (like our ancestors), of course for the majority of us this is no longer the case. We eat and store and simply get fat.
Brooks goes on to discuss different fertility patterns of various countries (50 countries including South Africa's president still practice polygamy), the cost of child rearing, and why many rock stars (Cobain, Winehouse, Morrison) die young.
This book is an interesting read. But Brooks is unduely hard on Christians..and condescending to those that accept the idea of marriage and "the ancient gospels." I wonder if he would be surprised to know that there are all different flavors of Christians that are also scientists and accept evolution to different degrees.
Just 3 stars.
July 21, 2011
Very interesting and a lot of fun to read. Probably pitched more at folks who haven't read a lot of evolution, but there is plenty in there for folks who read evolution and economics books like Dawkins, Jared Diamond or even Malcolm Gladwell.
This book isn't really a single argument toward one major point. It's more a set of different topics about how evolution effects our lives. There are chapters on obesity and the evolution of diet, why different countries have different obesity rates, population growth and the tragedy of the commons, love and marriage, different kinds of mating systems (like South Africa's president who has four wives), the consequences of parents in India and CHina aborting their baby girls, and three chapterson music. I thought the chapters on aging and why rocks stars often die young (Ch 11), and on sexual conflict (mainly Ch 5) were the most interesting.
Some passages seemed to drag on a bit. And like all pop science books, you will recognise many of the examples, but this book is far less repetitive than most. I also really like the way he blends evolution with economics. In a way, the book it most reminded me of was FreakonomicsFreakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. But this book is funnier and less irritating (and less America-centric)
This book isn't really a single argument toward one major point. It's more a set of different topics about how evolution effects our lives. There are chapters on obesity and the evolution of diet, why different countries have different obesity rates, population growth and the tragedy of the commons, love and marriage, different kinds of mating systems (like South Africa's president who has four wives), the consequences of parents in India and CHina aborting their baby girls, and three chapterson music. I thought the chapters on aging and why rocks stars often die young (Ch 11), and on sexual conflict (mainly Ch 5) were the most interesting.
Some passages seemed to drag on a bit. And like all pop science books, you will recognise many of the examples, but this book is far less repetitive than most. I also really like the way he blends evolution with economics. In a way, the book it most reminded me of was FreakonomicsFreakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. But this book is funnier and less irritating (and less America-centric)
October 15, 2011
Easy reading and nothing really new except for the idea of eating being limited by protein available for intake and the interactive quantitive relationship with carbohydrates. But as the cover suggests is for popular consumption so not likely to have detailed information about how statistics were gathered and analysed. Possibly a poor reflection on academia, being offered time and money to write this pop analysis!
December 5, 2012
I found this book underwhelming. I was hoping to have more of the theories to be backed up with studies. It appeared that most of the theories promoted in this book were created by following the logic of natural selection and finding facts that matched. I expected to fins this book more thought provoking, but it merely restated the same information from other sources. The most innovative chapters to me were at the end and the interesting theories about rock n roll.
February 22, 2013
Brooks does an excellent job explaining the concept of natural selection in the context of contemporary music culture and human sexual behavior. A very accessible and humorous read; this would be a great choice for a non-majors general biology class!
Read
September 25, 2012Featured on Skeptically Speaking show #175 on July 29, 2012, during an interview with author Rob Brooks. http://skepticallyspeaking.ca/episode...
March 30, 2013
An interesting, well-written book about some of the things I find most fascinating. Notably, human behaviour. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews