The Chemistry Between Us

The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction
By Larry Young and Brian Alexander

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Pub Date: January 2014
Genre: Non-fiction, Psychology, Relationship
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LOVE, All that mystery, all that poetry, all those complex behaviors surrounding human bonding leading to the most life-changing decisions well ever make, are unconsciously driven by a few molecules in our brains.

• How much control do we have over love?
• How does love begin?
• How can a man say he loves his wife, yet still cheat on her?
• Why do others stay in relationships even after the ro­mance fades?
• How is it possible to fall in love with the wrong person?
• How do people come to have a type?

Physical attraction, jealousy, infidelity, mother-infant bondingall the behaviors that so often leave us befuddledare now being teased out of the fog of mystery thanks to todays social neuroscience. Larry Young, one of the worlds leading experts in the field, and journalist Brian Alexander explain how those findings apply to you.

Drawing on real human stories and research from labs around the world, The Chemistry Between Us is a bold attempt to create a grand unified theory of love. Some of the mind-blowing insights include:

Love can get such a grip on us because it is, literally, an addiction. To a woman falling in love, a man is like her baby. Why its false to say society makes gender, and how its possible to have the body of one gender and the brain of another. Why some people are more likely to cheat than others. Why we sometimes truly cant resist temptation.

Young and Alexander place their revelations into historical, political, and social contexts. In the pro­cess, they touch on everything from gay marriage to why single-mother households might not be good for society. The Chemistry Between Us offers powerful in­sights into love, sex, gender, sexual orientation, and family life that will prove to be enlightening, contro­versial, and thought provoking.
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Review

"Combine a first-class neuroscientist like Young, director of Emory Universitys Center for Translational Social Neuroscience, and an award-winning science journalist like Alexander, and the result is likely to be an engaging book about cutting edge science. They do a wonderful job of mixing and matching human studies with those of other animals to explain how chemicals influence and, at times, control behavior associated with sex, love, and longing." --Publishers Weekly

"In interviews with scientists of all stripes (psychiatrists, neuroscientists, researchers), Young and Alexander examine their ideas and how they pertain to us, often illuminating their explanations with funny, and sometimes raunchy, anecdotes... the book is sure to hook even casual science readers with its subject, because, as Young and Alexander point out, the combination of erotic desire and the love it leads to may be the most powerful force on earth. An entertaining overview of the science of physical attraction." --Kirkus Reviews

"This lively book by a great neuroscientist and a savvy writer is the first popular account to tie together what we have learned about the chemistry of sex, love, and family bonds. Progress in this field has been nothing short of breathtaking, and Larry Young is recog­nized as its leading pioneer. The way our brains react when boy meets girl determines the stability of marriage and the future of the human family." --FRANS DE WAAL, Professor of Psychology at Emory University and author of The Age of Empathy

"One wild and entertaining ride. The prose in The Chemistry Between Us is lively and fun and provides a fresh and unapologetically pointed analysis on what understanding the neurobiological correlates of love may mean for both our relationships and our culture." --Kayt Sukel, New Scientist
 
"If youve ever been curiousand lets face it, we all haveabout the intricate dance of biology and behavior that both brings men and women together and pushes them apart, then The Chemistry Between Us is the book for you." --DEBORAH BLUM, Pulitzer Prize winner; author of Sex on the Brain, Love at Goon Park, and The Poisoners Handbook

"Nothing fascinates us more than why we fall in love and what makes us choose that par­ticular person. The Chemistry Between Us sheds light on just this mysterious phenom­enon with a thorough look at the neuroscience and psychology of the process. A fascinating and stimulating read!" --GAIL SALTZ, MD, NBC Today show contributor and clinical associate professor of psychiatry, New York-Presbyterian Hospital