Abstract
Sir Isaac Newton had one titled Philosophiae, Naturalis, Principia Mathematica, Charles R. Darwin had one published as On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life, and E. O. Wilson's is Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant Hyperdiverse Ant Genus. These works have all reached the magnum opus status. For Robert Martin (who is the A. Watson Armour, III, Curator of Biological Anthropology at Chicago's Field Museum), his earlier book, Primate Origins and Evolution: A Phylogenetic Reconstruction (published in 1990) would be the work accepted as his scholarly zenith. Interestingly, a much more modest work, the presently reviewed volume, stands as a book of great importance and value because it represents a distillation of 40 years of research into the form of an accessible and affordable scholarly trade book.
Martin succeeds, in the eight-chapter coverage, to open up considerations relevant to anatomy, anthropology, biology, evolutionary studies, medical science, primatology, psychology and reproductive physiology. Particularly important to its success is Martin's goal, for it is to “enhance the richness and naturalness of the reproductive experience by connecting it with the entire history of Homo sapiens…” (p. x).
One of the refreshing elements of Martin's topic coverage is its contemporaneousness; several of the bibliographic references are dated 2012. Although Martin cites a number of his own studies, he does not use this volume as an excuse to refer to his entire oeuvre. Typically, he provides an in-depth review of his topic and refers to classic studies or encyclopedic reviews. He also does not shy away from making reference to classic works such as that of T.A. Malthus from 1798, and he does well to highlight often overlooked works by authors in the earlier part of the last century. The appropriate inclusion of a glossary makes this book broadly approachable, and successful sales could work towards providing “much-needed context for our current reproductive behavior in order to dispel harmful notions, promote practices and technologies that reflect deep understanding of natural human biology (e.g., the birth control pill) and, most of all, put minds at ease about such fraught topics as breast-feeding duration, different forms of birth control, and attachment parenting” (p. x).
Chapter 1 is titled “Sperm and Eggs,” and Martin really runs with his coverage — beginning with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's first observations in 1667 of human sperm. He then devotes appropriate attention to the question of why sexual reproduction is necessary at all since asexual reproduction seems to be evolutionarily effective. The amazing facts of male sperm cell production are sequentially presented, perhaps giving the topic of capacitance short shrift, although the topic of sperm storage is brought up later in the chapter. Trends in human male fertility are discussed and related to environmental issues. The ovaries and eggs then receive a tight focus with appropriate attention to both ovarian cycles and menstrual cycles.
A comparative perspective of our primate relatives is provided in the discussion of Chapter 2 on “Cycles and Seasons.” Martin highlights annual variation in temperature and day length as important variables in patterns of reproduction, while acknowledging yet other important factors that could fluctuate along with seasonal variation. Once again the chapter provides a careful overview which allows for an appreciation of the path that research has taken in this area.
Chapter 3, “From Mating to Conception,” tackles issues such as the occurrence of ovulation in relation to menstruation, incest, sperm competition, estrus and monogamy. Martin takes positions on many of these topics and they may or may not be those taken by his book readers. Unfortunately, Martin does not cover some evidence in favor of human sperm competition (e.g., penis morphology and semen displacement, variance in sperm count as a function of time spent apart, male desire for short-term mating, etc.) in this discussion, which could have tempered his position “…that humans are not biologically adapted to cope with high-levels of sperm competition” (p. 70).
Chapter 4, “Long Pregnancies and Difficult Births,” places humans in the comparative perspective of the Class-Mammalia and discusses the placenta as well as “morning sickness.” Discussions on the evolutionary history of the placenta may run a bit deeper than some prefer, something that Martin openly acknowledges, but he builds from this thorough analysis to propose the potential importance of the placenta type in the trade-off with immunological factors.
Perhaps Martin's most masterful coverage occurs in Chapter 5, “Growing a Large Brain.” Mammalian coverage is augmented by a consideration of the fossil record. Martin's own cited works include a 1981 paper, as well as one from 2010 which was a chapter in the book, The Human Brain Evolving: Paleoneurological Studies in Honor of Ralph L. Holloway. Refreshingly, Martin once again offers up the sides he supports on various issues such as that of sex differences in brain size and cognitive operation.
All extant mammal species lactate. Martin, in his Chapter 6 coverage, “Feeding Babies: A Natural History of Breast-feeding,” once again provides a masterful coverage. He ties his scholarly review to the topic of human breast-feeding and comes out very heavily for the numerous benefits for both mother and child that can be accrued.
The final two chapters cover childcare and reproductive intervention. For many, these two chapters may be the most engaging due to the practical applications that emerge. The question of whether or not these chapters are up to the level of the previous six needs to be answered in the affirmative.
Overall, Martin has provided a splendid coverage suitable for a wide readership, but should be a priority read for those studying any aspect of human reproduction and sexual behavior. One disappointment was a slight formulaic, but probably necessary, element to this trade book. The chapters average 29 pages in length, ranging from 20 to 36 pages, and are further broken down into one to three page sections of coverage building upon one another. It would have been nice if Martin had been in a position to “freely and limitlessly explore” some of his coverage areas.
Martin has done the field of science, and in particular, evolutionary science, a favor by turning out a “popular science” book as a reflection of its 50-year germination. It is an accessible and affordable, yet rigorously reviewed, scholarly trade book that comes across as a career achievement. Buy it, read it, carefully consider it, and you will be on your way to becoming a cognoscenti in a diversity of fields related to humans and their evolution and reproductive biology.