Science Cheerleader

Meet Faye Flam, a talented journalist and media personality who makes science sexy AND makes sex “sciencey”. We have much in common though she actually has a degree in science (Physics, CalTech), she’s an amateur circus acrobat, and she’s a much stronger writer than I am (or is it “than me”?).

I met Faye a few months ago, here in Philadelphia where she’s a popular columnist at the Inquirer. Check out the archives of her controversial (although no longer running) column, “Carnal Knowledge,” where you can find answers to practically anything you’ve ever wanted to ask about sex, through the lens of the sciences: anthropology, genetics, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, psychology and even botany. That’s right. Botany.  Test your Sex IQ with Faye’s  Sex Quiz.

Her book, The Score: How the Quest for Sex Shaped the Modern Man was published this summer. I read it at the beach where no fewer than a dozen people offered remarks about my book choice. The most common comment: “What’s to learn? You have four kids don’t you?”

This book is much richer than I anticipated. There’s a terrific storyline to hold the reader’s interest involving a Boot Camp for men who wish to bed women, quickly. But the heart of the book is a deconstruction of evolution down to its primordial form where we learn, through Faye’s wicked sense of humor and gift for analogies, how some species fumbled their way into reproduction while others developed deliberate (sometimes comical) rituals and protocols.

Playgirl gave it this review:

Flam wrestles billions of years of science into an understandable and engrossing narrative, peppered with plenty of anecdotal animal-world examples that will leave you awed and amazed. She answers the burning questions you may or may not have had stewing in the back of your mind since eighth grade like: Why do humans come in (give or take) two sexes, instead of 30,000+ like mushrooms? and Are there gay animals? Plus those that come up regularly at the dinner table like: If we can have babies without sex, do we really need males? and Why, oh why, do men like porn so much more than women like porn?

I asked Faye how she became interested in science and what she thinks about stereotypes placed on scientists.

Science Cheerleader: Can you tell me a little about your earliest interests in science?

Faye: I think I was always interested in science – I thought math was beautiful and amazing from geometry on up. I liked physics and chemistry too. Even when I was little I was interested in nature. My family went on some long-distance sailing trips and sometimes we’d be out at night and my dad would show me how to find the North Star and explain that the Milky way was all made of stars. We also took road trips to the desert where I learned about adaptation.

Science Cheerleader: You are beautiful and some might say you don’t quite represent the face of science. How would you answer such critics?

Faye: I’m not sure how to answer the question about looks. I’m flattered, I think, though I don’t believe there’s really any kind of look that goes with science. That’s one of the great things about science – scientists can be tall or short, skinny or fat, blonde or brown-haired or bald.  Scientists can wear cheap glasses frames and buy their clothes from thrift shops. In general I think they set an example of open-mindedness we should all try to emulate.

Thanks, Faye!