I’m always excited when scientists try to explain large, complex areas of human endeavour in evolutionary terms. I’m doubly excited when those areas are infused with cultural, social and economic influences because there is no danger of getting into the…
Rob Brooks has several talks coming up – all related to Sex, Genes & Rock ‘n’ Roll and the relevance of evolution to modern life. 9 February 10am – Grand Rounds at Sydney Children’s Hospital 13 February 2pm – Weight…
The Week magazine rated Sex, Genes & Rock ‘n’ Roll one of its two best non-fiction books of 2011. Here is what they had to say: “This is a sublime piece of popular science,” said Bruce Elder in The Sydney…
This article first appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday 20 December 2011 under the heading “Praying for a real silent night this Christmas“. Thanks to the sentimental Charles Dickens and the fabulous Dr Seuss, we have words in…
First published in The Conversation on 20 December 2011 We all know somebody like Dick: a bloke who rates himself for no apparent reason and who optimistically reckons every woman – especially every attractive woman – is interested in him.…
Like many of you, I’ve been doing a bit of Christmas shopping. I forgot how depressing the obnoxious crowds, the artless carols and the sheer tedium of shops tends to get me down. But worst of all, there seems to…
Another good review of S,G &R – this time from Ireland-based Professor of Marketing John Fahy. He notes: “In his closing remarks, Brooks comments that he is fortunate to do this kind of work (and write this kind of book) because…
Sex, Genes & Rock ‘n’ Roll: How Evolution has shaped the modern world will be published as a hardcover and ebook in North America in March 2012. They have recently posted the details and the cover image on their website.…
SEX LAB member Dr Michael Kasumovic has been awarded a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award by the Australian Research Council for a project entitled Re-evaluating evolution by examining developmental plasticity in response to the social environment. This comes two weeks…
Harold Camping is back in the news, but for partly the right reasons. If you’ve blocked the sheer banal stupidity from your mind, you might recall that Camping was the American preacher who predicted that the world would end on…