Human Sexuality

In this textbook, Simon LeVay and Janice Baldwin aim to help students understand the diversity of human sexual expression as well as the diversity of perspectives from which sexuality can be studied. Well known for its high-quality presentation of biological aspects of sexuality, Discovering Human Sexuality, Fourth Edition, devotes rich coverage to the insights gained from cognitive science, social psychology, sociology, feminism, and cross-cultural studies, along with both moral and political discourse on sexual themes.

The fourth edition provides up-to-date coverage of all topics, ranging from gay marriage in New York to the latest developments in contraceptive technology and exciting findings on pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV. Still the leader in terms of its biological coverage, the fourth edition also has expanded coverage of many other issues, ranging from sex-therapy exercises to learning theories of gender and paraphilias.

Simon LeVay, Ph.D. is a British-born neuroscientist turned science writer and teacher. He was educated at Cambridge University and the University of Göttingen, Germany. In 1971, he moved to the United States. He has served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and has taught at Harvard, the University of California, and Stanford University. LeVay has authored over 40 scientific studies; the best of known of these is a 1991 report in Science that described a difference in brain structure between heterosexual and homosexual men. This study helped spark a wealth of new research on the biology of sexual orientation. LeVay is the author or coauthor of ten books, some in the area of human sexuality and others on a broader range of scientific topics.

Janice Baldwin, Ph.D. is a sociologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is coauthor, with her husband John Baldwin, of numerous studies and articles in the area of sexuality and sex education, as well as the textbook Behavior Principles in Everyday Life, now in its fourth edition. The Baldwins co-teach an undergraduate Human Sexuality course that is regularly voted Best Course at UCSB. They also teach an advanced seminar course on the same topic. The Baldwins have been named as Best Professors on several occasions.