A Guide to Reproduction: Social Issues & Human Concerns

ISBN-13: 9780521418621 / Angielski / Twarda / 1994 / 428 str.

Irina Pollard

Opis

Reproduction plays a huge part in many people's lives, but often little is understood about the biological processes involved and the larger impact of reproductive choices. This book offers an accessible, comprehensive introduction to this fascinating subject. Irina Pollard takes a unique, interdisciplinary perspective, describing in detail the biology of human reproduction, but also covering in depth the impact of procreational behavior on human social structures, the environment, and health. This compelling and authoritative account is the first to draw together in a single volume these two disparate yet intimately connected strands of the story of human reproduction. The book covers fertility and infertility, sexual behavior and pheromones, sperm creation, maternal physiology during pregnancy, fetal development, the biology of breast feeding, and the impact of parental behavior on the physiology of the newborn, as well as population dynamics, artificial control of fertility, the AIDS epidemic, the effects of nutrition and exercise on reproductive behavior, and the causes of birth defects, including abuse of substances such as nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. This book is an ideal text for undergraduate and graduate students studying biology, medicine, anthropology, human ecology, population dynamics, and public health. It is also an engrossing and enlightening source of information for a wide range of general readers including prospective parents, pregnant mothers, teenagers, and anyone wishing a concise, up-to-date review of human reproductive biology.

Recenzje

"Readers interested in advanced textbook in biology will enjoy this volume. Descriptions of the biology of reproduction, including anatomy, physiology, and medicine are thorough, informative and well-written." Judy E. Stern, Religious Studies Review

Spis treści

Preface and acknowledgements; Part I. Reproductive Biology: 1. Fertility and infertility; 2. Sex determination and gamete maturity; 3. Neuroendocrine control of puberty; 4. Control of the menstrual cycle; 5. The testis and control of spermatogenesis; 6. Sexual behaviour and pheromones; 7. Sociobiology and reproductive success; 8. Fertilization and initiation of development; 9. Maternal physiology during gestation and fetal development; 10. Parturition and lactation: hormonal control; 11. Parental behaviour and the physiology of the neonate; 12. Decline in male reproduction and the menopause; Part II. Reproduction and Social Issues: 13. Population dynamics, stress and the general theory of adaptation; 14. Extinctions and the conservation of endangered species; 15. Artificial control of fertility; 16. Hormonal contributions to errors of sexual differentiation; 17. The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic: a global emergency; 18. The effects of nutrition and exercise on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis; 19. Principles of teratology and an update on nicotine, ethanol and caffeine abuse; 20. Ethical aspects of human reproductive biology; Index.