On the Origin of Sex

“Who can resist Lixing Sun’s dive into the weird and wonderful science of reproduction?”

“Enlightening... a fascinating, accessible study of how sex shapes and underpins our lives.”

“Sun distills complex genetic concepts for general audiences with irreverence and humor. Sun’s analysis emphasizes the breadth of diversity in nature while reminding readers that sex and gender are neither fixed nor binary.”

“An entertaining and enlightening look at the ever-changing ‘juicy mysteries’ of sex.”

“People make two mistakes about biological sex: first, that it’s simple. Second, that we can backsolve its purpose and evolution based on that assumption. Lixing Sun rightfully skewers these assumptions in this wonderful and wide-ranging book. Smart, thoughtful, and witty, this book will make you rethink what you thought you knew about sex.”

“Sex is costly, dangerous and weird. Why on earth should natural selection smile on a mechanism that creates individuals radically different from those who have, by reproducing, already demonstrated their fitness? Lixing Sun, in this thrilling biological detective story, brilliantly told and relentlessly entertaining, romps towards an answer.”

“This is a delightful book! Human sex in all its varieties now seems vanilla after this wondrous romp through the evolution of procreation and the startling ways of living that have emerged from the ancient challenge of surviving, reproducing and responding to a shifting world. Evolution has produced in Lixing Sun an unparalleled tour guide to the joy of other sex lives, vastly knowledgeable and tiggerishly enthusiastic, he clearly loves his subject and reading this is like being given a speed tour by a biologist Willy Wonka through a zoological garden of animal sex, gender, conflict and philosophy. Enjoyable, thought-provoking and striking, without ever being dense or baffling.”

“Combining terrific storytelling and solid science, Sun invites us on an amazing journey across time, bodies and biology. Based squarely in the science of evolutionary biology this book is an engaging, joyous, and deeply informative romp across the weird and wonderful landscapes of the science of sex.”

“Exciting, mysterious, and illuminating. Sun succeeds in doing the nearly impossible: conveying complex up-to-the-minute science in a style that is not only accessible but fascinating and even sexy. On the Origin of Sex is simply brilliant, helping the reader appreciate sex's glorious complexity throughout the living world.”

“Charmingly accessible prose, dripping with raw enthusiasm for the subject. Sun lets the glorious and unsolved mystery of why sex evolved take centre stage, peppering us with mind-bending stories of the incredibly diverse and bizarre ways in which reproduction happens for all species on this planet. Sun does not shy away from hot-button topics like human gender or intersexuality in sports, making this essential reading for anyone who wants a solid grounding in the biology of sex to better understand human nature. Our bodies might just be vehicles for our haploid gametes to continue driving their germline into the future, but you can't help but admire the diversity of methods nature has concocted to help them get the job done.”