Cordelia Fine is a Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of much-acclaimed A Mind of Its Own (Icon, 2006) and Delusions of Gender (Icon, 2010), described as 'a truly startling book' by the Independent, 'droll yet deeply serious' by New Scientist and an important book'; 'as enjoyable as it is timely and interesting'; by the West Australian.
Every man and woman should read this book on gender bias.
Testosterone Rex is an important, yet wickedly witty, book about
the 21st century which touches on the current debates around
identity and turns everything on its head. Pressingly contemporary,
it's the ideal companion read to sit alongside The Handmaid's Tale
and The Power.
*Judges, 2017 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book
Prize*
Fine's gift for rendering complex neurological concepts
comprehensible is one of the many reasons why her book is so
brilliant. She writes like a dream, not just by the lifelessly
humble standards of most scientific prose, but by any literary
measure, and her book sparkles with pithy wit.
*Decca Aitkenhead, Guardian*
If you've ever thought that men are from Mars and women are
from Venus, or that men don't listen and women can't read maps,
this book is
for you. The expression "essential reading for everyone" is usually
untrue as
well as a cliché, but if there were a book deserving of that
description this
might just be it.
*Antonia Macaro, Financial Times*
A cracking critique of the "Men are from Mars, Women are from
Venus" hypothesis, Cordelia Fine takes to pieces much of the
science on which "fundamental" gender differences are predicated.
Graced with precisely focused humour, the author makes a good case
that men and women are far more alike than many would claim.
Feminist? Possibly. Humanist? Certainly. A compellingly good
read.
*Professor Richard Fortey*
Fine leavens the hard science with personal anecdote, and her
entertaining and thoughtful book is a valuable addition to the
discussion about gender.
*Ian Critchley, The Sunday Times*
Testosterone Rex is packed with convincing evidence and astonishing
facts, all of which seem so important that everybody should be made
to read all of it immediately, or at least before typing another
word on Twitter about political correctness gone mad.
*Katy Guest, The Pool*
Fine dissects as she goes, bringing a probing intelligence not only
to what we believe about gender, and why it's often wrong, but also
to the history of how we came to think it was so ... Beliefs about
men and women are as old as humanity itself, but Fine's funny,
spiky book gives reason to hope that we've heard Testosterone Rex's
last roar.
*Annie Murphy Paul, New York Times Book Review*
Testosterone Rex is one of those rare books that manages to
effortlessly mix science, social commentary and a call to arms. It
is witty, robust and angry but provides a new take - and new
evidence - that helps us answer the age old question of where women
stand in the world.
*Kit de Waal*
Testosterone Rex is a debunking rumble that ought to inspire a
roar.
*The Guardian*
Fine does it again. The mistress of "I think you'll find it's more
complicated than that" delivers a brilliant and witty riposte to
the "boys will be boys" bores. Fascinating.
*Caroline Criado-Perez*
A fascinating, greatly contemplative discussion of sex and gender
and the embedded societal expectations of both.
*Kirkus Reviews*
It is extraordinary how so much is attributed to such a minute
quantity of hormone. Cordelia Fine combines formidable intellect,
forensic analysis and devastating wit to expose those myths of sex,
gender and human behaviour that might just reflect
testosterone-fuelled, wishful thinking. This engaging, accessible
and hopefully influential book doesn't disappoint, and makes
crucial reading for those with an interest, from any perspective,
in human behaviour.
*School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne*
The delusion that there are distinct and unique male and female
natures, put in place by an unholy alliance of genes, hormones and
neurones, remains alive and well. Cordelia Fine dismantles this
myth with style, wit and scientific precision. This combination of
scientific responsibility and general accessibility is desperately
needed if we are to escape the serious social damage caused by such
widely disseminated pseudoscience.
*Director, Egenis, Centre for the Study of Life Sciences,
University of Exeter*
Goodbye beliefs in sex differences disguised as evolutionary facts.
Welcome the dragon slayer: Cordelia Fine wittily but meticulously
lays bare the irrational arguments that we use to justify gender
politics.
*Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development, University College,
London*
This is an important, well researched book that presents
biological, psychological and social science research to explain
why men and women are far less different than many would have you
believe. If that sounds dry, it ain't. Fine lives up to her name -
she is an extremely talented writer.
*Evolutionary Ecology, Australian National University*
Cordelia Fine has done it again: she debunked the idea of a female
brain in Delusions of Gender and has now slain Testosterone Rex.
This is obligatory reading for anyone interested in gender equality
at work or home - your views on sex differences will never be the
same.
*journalist and author of Seven Myths About Women at Work*
This book is brilliant
*New Scientist*
Ms Fine's is a provocative and often fascinating book.
*The Economist*
Fine knocks it out of the park with her smart and eye-opening
Testosterone Rex ... After reading it, my new resolution is to
never say "Boys will be boys" again. Because while boys are, of
course, boys, we owe it to them-and to girls-to understand that
they are not defined by this single hormone.
*Adrian Laing, The Amazon Book Review Editor*
Filled with interesting facts, studies and arguments, it's an
impressive work, sure to be useful when faced with gender
essentialists who argue that asking for progressive change such as
fair representation, or less sexist adverts, is a futile fight
against nature.
*Let Toys Be Toys*
Testosterone Rex is an important book. It helps us think about the
kind of society we expect to see or hope to build. It questions
whether we have to accept existing gendered norms about male and
female behaviour.
*Sian Norris, Open Democracy*
Watching Fine take these gendered claims painstakingly,
methodically, devastatingly to pieces should rank among the great
works of art that humanity has ever produced. Buy a box set of this
and Delusions of Gender. Buy twelve. Distribute them to your loved
ones. Absolutely everyone in the world should read it. You'll thank
me later.
*Reading the End*
Endless books claim that the brains of men and women are wired
differently. They set out to convince us that women are somehow
biologically suited to getting the creases out of clothes while men
peruse maps. This brilliant book proves our attitudes to men and
women are cultural, not natural. Fine makes the neuroscience clear
and provides a wealth of ammunition to debunk the myth that sex
inequality is just something we're born with.
*The Observer*
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