Rating: 
Summary: Oh please, next time call it a comic writing
Review: This book reminds me of many movies you go to see based on books you have read, because when you come out you are shaking your head and wondering what the heck was THAT?? Angier's has written a book, which as a social commentary, would have been amusing, and make you think, truly think, about some of the ideas she presents. The problem is that her science is awful. Instead of facts and research leading her to conclusions, she has seemingly instead gone and found facts and statistics to justify her ideas. This is science of the worst sort. Every argument she makes just left me waiting for some one else to chime in with a counter-point. Anecdotal evidence, circular arguments, half-baked reasoning, this whole book truly pales when compared to fine books such as Guns,Germs, and Steel, which actually try to explain how humankind ended up the way it has, and also explain the journey it took to get there. Call this book social commentary, drop the self-serving science, and I'd give it 3 1/2 stars. As it is though, not a chance. Hopefully some other writter is out there right now finishing up the book that all these other reviews want you to believe that this one is.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Natalie Angier has written a wonderful and insightful book. I, for one, think her thoughts on evolutionary psychology are brilliant. And yes, I have read the likes of Steven Pinker and Robert Wright and agree with Natlie that they are full of bologna.
Rating: 
Summary: Very educational on the art and science of what is 'woman'.
Review: Very good book for what is almost a text book on the science of the female. Very interesting comparisons to other mammalian species and their behaviours. Quite readable. A slight caution to those who are not interested in science or researching biology. Some of the genetics and biochmistry may be a little deep. Learned quite a bit.
Rating:
Summary: A funny, edgy, breezy sail through the female body
Review: From Susan Reimer's review in the Baltimore Sun, with which I wholeheartedly agree:"I haven just finished reading Natalie Angier's new book, "Woman," and I wish I could start my sexual life all over again. If nothing else, I would certainly laugh a lot more. Mixing feminism, biology, cultural anthropology and life among our relatives, the primates, she tosses over the side all the old baggage about a woman's sexual passivity, her desperate need for monogamy and her eyelash-batting search for older, more successful male providers. Buy this book. It is a quantum leap from "Our Bodies, Ourselves." Read it, and understand better how your body works -- how it has been working all these years. It is a revelation. Then pass this book on to a young woman you know and care about."
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Criticism of Evolutionary Psychology
Review: Writing style aside (to each her own; I didn't like it), there is a lot of fascinating material early in this book. Unfortunately, Angier then decides to criticize an entire method of investigation because parts of it don't jive with her ideology. The Rush Limbaugh-like characterization of her enemies really worked against her in chapter 18. Why would a biologically-minded person, who has no trouble with the evolutionary explanation of a complex human social behavior, like parent-offspring conflict, stop there and refuse to be objective about male-female sexual differences? I seek out good criticisms of evolutionary psychology, because I include it in the anthropology classes I teach. I like the approach because it is amazingly productive of testable predictions about human behavior. I want to know its weaknesses--and this book left me with little to reconsider. Angier directs her criticism very selectively, and will leave a lot of people with a very twisted introduction to this fascinating field. Read Steve Pinker, Robert Wright, or better yet--Leda Cosmides and John Tooby for yourself if you want a clearer picture.
Rating:
Summary: Not for scientists
Review: I am amazed at the vast schism in the ratings of this book. I found it a refreshing and interesting view on a subject (biology and hard science) that many people find inaccessible. As a professor of English, I disagree with some reviewers who find her style platitudinous or immature. As I read, I was often impressed with her unique combination of the erudite and the colloquial. Some might find that juxtaposition jarring, but I really enjoyed it. I have recommended this book to several people. For those looking for an esoteric or scholarly approach to women's biology, this isn't it. I don't think that's the intended audience for this book. If you are like me, never really understanding the hard sciences, anything biological or chemical, then perhaps Angier's approach will be appealing.
Rating:
Summary: A delicious read that will become a classic in the field.
Review: I must express my appreciation for this wonderful book. I am a psychology professor and have found much in Woman to enrich many parts of my lectures, including in Physiological Psychology and the Psychology of Gender. I believe this book will become a classic in the field.
Rating:
Summary: Am I missing something?
Review: I would think this book ironic, if I believed the author were capable of irony, but she clearly is not. Given that I have no scientific credentials, I cannot comment on the book's scientific credibility, but as a professor of English literature, I can say that the book is so poorly argued that it had no credibility for me. As well, it is written in an over the top style one associates with eager freshmen, not seasoned journalists. One hopes this author will return to straight forward reporting on science, and redirect her "poetic" impulses to late night scribblings in a personal journal.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, entertaining and enlightening
Review: I grew up with my mother being the only other female in a family of eight. Although I always accepted intellectually that women and men are equally valuable, there has always been a part of me that thought -- why did I have to be the girl? WOMAN has dispelled those thoughts and made me feel how lucky it was that I was the girl.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for every man.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, although it offered re-affirmations rather than revelations. I would recommend that women buy it for the men and boys in their lives, particularly those who would find this a "new" perspective.
|
