Testosterone : an unauthorized biography /

It would be fair to assume that a casual comment about having observed a "manly" act might give rise to an assumption that the "male sex hormone" testosterone had played some role, whether indirectly or directly, in the event. This habit of thought is commonly extended even to some "man-like" events enacted by women. Here, Jordan-Young (Columbia Univ.) and Karkazis (City Univ. of New York) reexamine the evidence from scientific studies across multiple domains of human functional activity: reproduction, aggression, risk-taking, exercise of power (dominance), athletics, and parenting--some widely held to be influenced by testosterone--to formulate a revisionist critique or "unauthorized biography" of the famous hormone. In relatively few instances, testosterone has been found to be key. The "problem of testosterone" is in part that although this androgen does exercise a wide range of metabolic activity, much of its influence has not been verified. Most of the chapters pursue details of historical controversies from the related literature. The authors' own surprising conclusions, based on careful analysis of cited research, are detailed in the concluding chapter, "The Social Molecule." Though this text deserves wide exposure, it offers a dense and challenging--yet rewarding--read. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Richard S. Kowalczyk, formerly, University of Michigan

Critical scrutiny of the culture of science grounds this eye-opening, original argument from Barnard gender studies professor Jordan-Young (Brain Storm) and cultural anthropologist Karkazis (Fixing Sex) against testosterone's popular identity as the driver behind male libido and aggression. Homing in on six core domains in which testosterone is commonly seen as highly involved--reproduction, aggression, risk taking, power, sports, and parenting--the authors find rampant flaws in the available research. Such problems include inconsistent methodology, "pastiche science" that links data with tangentially related anecdotes, and reliance upon well-known but now discredited studies. Jordan-Young and Karkazis are especially critical of how the supposedly insurmountable effects of testosterone have been used to scapegoat young black men or support white supremacy, while allowing ideologues to ignore institutional factors. Though the authors' primary aim is to debunk, they do provide updates on recent research and point to underdiscussed topics such as the role of testosterone in egg follicle development. Readers interested in the messiness of the relationship between hormones and behavior, and willing to consider that science can be far from neutral and objective, will find high-density food for thought in Jordan-Young and Karkazis's stimulating work. (Oct.)