Book Review: Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, by Mary Roach

I imagine that Mary Roach must have experienced a slight disillusionment with the subject of sex during her research for Bonk, her 2008 book on the scientific study of human sexuality. I imagine her quickly realizing that sex, which one would expect to be a titillating subject matter, quickly becomes commonplace and technical when approached scientifically. By the end of the Bonk, I was no longer embarrassed to be reading a book about penis implants, female orgasm, or sex toys, any more than I'm sure Mary Roach was embarrassed to be writing one. Don't look for erotica here, or even practical tips to improve your sex life. At most, sharing this book with your significant other will spark a lively scientific debate between the sheets. (See what I mean about the disillusionment?)

One quickly learns from reading Bonk a surprising fact that should not surprise one at all: that scientists know very little about the most fundamental and essential activity in human beings, that of sexual behavior and reproduction. Because of the moral, religious, and well, embarrassing attachments to the subject, sex is something that until very recently, scientists weren't allowed to study without severe detriment to their careers, or at the very least some lurid rumors and funny looks.

In Bonk, Roach supplies a history of the pioneers who studied sex, from Victorian-era physicians to Alfred Kinsey in the 1950s and Masters and Johnson in the 1960s, to modern-day physiologists, urologists, and yes, sexologists. With bright candor and often-hilarious asides in the footnotes, Mary Roach describes the scientific study of sex in a friendly, non-threatening way, one in which the prudest of the prude could not find cause to shake a stern finger at.

Not only does Bonk provide a fascinating history and description of the modern study of sex, but it also creates the desire to read more books about popular science. Luckily, Roach has written two such others: Spook, on the topic of science and the afterlife, and Stiff, regarding the scientific study of human cadavers. As long as Roach is writing, I'm game to read about any subject she chooses, no matter how controversial, mysterious, or even embarrassing.

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