How can wordless collections of sounds send shivers down our spines and tickle ancient parts of our brains we share with reptiles? How did a chemist's quest to create a drug to ease the pain of childbirth result in the creation of LSD? Why do goats partake in oral sex, and how can a horse (or even a table) make us weak in the knees? And how on earth could the revered 'father of anatomy' not know where the clitoris was?
From tortoiseshell condoms to superstar athletes on hallucinogens, these burning questions are explored and dissected, mixed with insights from some of the world's bravest, cleverest and downright weirdest scientist experimenting on the edge - and themselves. It's a sharp shocker, an eye opener, asking the big questions about what it means to be human, about consciousness and happiness. It'll pull you in and gross out.
Exuberantly curious and shamelessly exuberant, Guerilla Science's Zoe Cormier reinvents popular science for a new generation by breaking all the rules. Let's rock.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
A romp through three topics that preoccupy western youth ... perfect to dip in and out of for tasty morsels. -- Professor Bruce Hood * BBC Focus * Awesome * Company * An entertaining tour through science * Wired * Fascinating * Elle * Playful ... In three discrete sections, [Cormier] examines sex, narcotics and music from a scientist's perspective, with surprising rigour and a keen eye for the odd fact. In the process she shows that there's nothing trivial about the study of pleasure. Indeed, you could say that it's our boundless capacity for having a good time that truly makes us human. Cormier certainly thinks so. In the end, Cormier brings all her strands together with some skill and an almost childlike sense of wonder. Ian Dury was right. Sex, Drugs And Rock 'n' Roll is very good indeed. * Daily Mail * Not your average science book ... The book buzzes with facts, like bees dizzy from caffeinated pollen. It is a cornucopia of the strange and fascinating. -- Max Wallis * Independent * Fantastic and entertaining .. funny and enlightening ... Cormier is an irreverent guide to this netherworld of scientific discovery, and although she writes here about serious science, she does so with effortless verve and enthusiasm, making the subject matter jump off the page ... As a (former) scientist, I love Guerilla Science's crusade to bring fun and exciting scientific ideas to people who might not normally engage in such stuff, and Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll seems like the perfect vehicle for that. -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue * A tongue-in-cheek, illuminating investigation into hedonistic pursuits, Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll skilfully argues that these are not just base pursuits ... a funny, fascinating and absorbing study ... an interesting and entertaining read. -- Alison Potter * Press Association *
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ISBN-13
978-1-84765-949-1 (9781847659491)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Zoe Cormier is the author of Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll: The Science of Hedonism and the Hedonism of Science, hand-picked by the Guardian as a must-read science book in 2014. A celebration of everyone's favourite unholy trinity, she explores how our supposedly "base" and "primitive" pursuits are actually crucial components of the human condition. As a journalist and science writer her work has featured in The Times, Wired, Nature, New Scientist,Guardian, Globe and Mail, BBC Focus and many other publications. She has appeared on BBC Radio 4's Start The Week, National Public Radio in the US, CBC Radio in Canada, Huffington Post Live from New York City, CTV's The Social, and on stage at music festivals, arts events and theatrical performances for over a decade. She is also a co-founder of Guerilla Science, an events production company that brings science-inspired events to the locations you least expect to see them.
