Sex Differences in the Brain: A New Book Worth Considering

This post is a little overdue!

Sex Differences in the Brain: From Genes to Behavior (2007) by Jill Becker, Karen Berkley, Nori Geary, James Herman, and Elizabeth Young, is a book from Oxford University Press that is attracting quite a bit of attention.  It was reviewed in the March 21st issue of Science, but before that my friend Nancy Yanes-Hoffman sent me her review to share with you.

Evan Balaban writing in Science concluded:

All readers will learn something of value from this book, even if they don't agree with the views of particular authors.  Information content is high, references are ample, and the continuity between different chapters has been skillfully coordinated. Science 21 March 2008:Vol. 319. no. 5870, pp. 1619 - 1620

Nancy Yanes-Hoffman offers a detailed review on her blog and while she has some criticisms she also concludes:

While scientists and researchers have long needed a book like Sex Differences, its readership should not be limited to academia.  The questing student of any age will find answers to many thorny questions—as well as more challenges to his or her perspectives and relationships.      Why Can't a Women be More Like a Man? Nancy Yanes-Hoffman, March 19, 2008

She also suggests sources for further reading.

Both reviewers agree that Sex Differences in the Brain: From Genes to Behavior addresses an area that has been underrepresented in the literature.