Sex car
Christian Göldenboog writes about the meaning of sexual reproduction Reviewed by Christine Westerhaus, 06/27/2006 Deutschlandradio It costs us a lot of energy and it is extremely difficult to find a suitable partner for it. So why do we humans have sex? The journalist Christian Göldenboog tries to find new answers to this age-old question in his book "Why Sex? From the Evolution of the Two Sexes". Why are there women AND men, when women could just as easily bring their children into the world without the so-called stronger sex? After all, nature even has a recipe for this: Virgin procreation, the production of offspring without sexual fertilization. Some plants and animals actually reproduce this way. So why not people too? After all, women invest a lot of energy in their offspring, half of which, namely the males, are primarily there to later fertilize egg cells. The answers that the author Christian Göldenboog gives to the question of the meaning of two genders are not really new. But this book does not claim to provide a conclusive answer to this age-old question, which has been hotly debated among researchers. This book joins a long list of works that deal more or less scientifically with this topic. The book that has now been published is one of the scientifically sound ones and comes up with answers that are quite similar to works written by well-known scientists. The main thesis is: There are two sexes because the genetic diversity of an organism is only guaranteed through sexual reproduction. In virgin conception, the mother only passes her own genes on to the next generation. If, on the other hand, this genetic material is mixed with that of another individual, i.e. the male, completely new genetic combinations become possible. And among these newly created genetic kits, there are bound to be some whose owners are much better able to cope with changes in the environment. The interesting and new thing about the book that has just been published is that the author takes into account the relatively new findings from the analyzes of the human genome and the cloning experiments. This also makes the book interesting for readers who have already dealt with the subject in more detail. Especially since the author, who also works as a journalist and has surprisingly made a name for himself as a champagne connoisseur, goes very far into the depths of the biological basics of heredity in these sections of the book. Fortunately, as in other chapters, Göldenboog does not make the mistake of getting bogged down in specialist knowledge. The book is easy to understand throughout and the author explains the terms clearly and in such a way that interested laypeople can also follow him. A portion of attention and interest in biology is nevertheless necessary to be able to follow everything. However, the author uses a stylistic trick to keep the reader's attention: over long stretches he transports the content in the form of conversations with well-known and respected scientists. He always raises new questions that the researchers answer. Since these dialogues are written verbatim, the reader has the impression that the author actually conducted the interviews in this form. At the same time, this stylistic trick makes the book come alive because the reader gets the feeling of participating in a discussion among researchers. Of course, Göldenboog does not always remain scientific on this subject: For example, he also has a few spicy details from the sexual life of humans and animals ready for the reader. That chimpanzees only need about 7-10 seconds to climax, while marsupials take 12 hours to get down to business. After all, a person has this sweaty act behind them after two and a half to 15 minutes. In his book, the author treats a total of 10 different chapters that have to do with the topic of sex. Among other things, he describes the criteria that females use to select males, how much energy the different sexes invest in their germ cells and how the sex ratio is regulated. It is not only about human reproduction, but mainly about that of animals. It is pleasant that Göldenboog does not attempt to incorporate the current discussion about the decline in birth rates into his book. He almost always sticks to the scientific facts and does not make the mistake of misusing the human way of dealing with sexuality as an explanation. In addition, he does not attempt to give a conclusive answer to the question of the meaning of two genders. He is probably aware that he should not lean too far out of the window on this question, because discussions about this question lead to many disputes among scientists. To a large extent, therefore, he leaves it up to the reader to interpret the scientific facts and the discussions among researchers. Overall, the result is a well-researched and, despite its depth, entertaining book about the meaning of sexual reproduction.
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