Sex by Numbers: What Statistics Can Tell Us About Sexual Behaviour

This is an interesting - and, indeed, rather witty - book concerned with presenting a critique of the ways in which our understanding of sex has been quantified. Many studies, and much research, has been undertaken on human sexual behaviour - and, invariably, the results are offered as statistical data ... representing 'hard, indisputable facts'. All too often, as this book shows, the mathematical foundations on which such data rest are poorly imagined. The outcome is that our understanding of "sex" by way of numbers is flawed.How much sex goes on? Who's more likely to be having sex? At what age do people stop having sex? How many orgasms do women have? How may men sleep with prostitutes? So many questions! And there's likely as many different answers - all claiming to be correct! Such pretentious answers can be daily found in newspapers and magazines ... But what's the underlying truth on which such claims rest? It's difficult to tell, as even the word 'sex' is open to interpretation. If people can't readily agree on what sex means, how can it be counted?This book - written by a statistician - seeks to explore the problem and offer some possible answers. The author seeks to cut through the nonsense and present the numbers. Throughout, the discussion is advanced in a clear and readable manner - and you certainly don't need to be a mathematician. It's not intended as an academic textbook - rather, this is simply informative.

Knowing of David Spiegelhalters work as a fellow scientist with an interest in reproductive health, I anticipated that this book would be an excellent account of work in the field and I was not disappointed. David must have put a great deal of effort into researching the topic and he reports his findings in a clear objective way with occasional touches of humour. The work will be of value both to those with a professional interest in the field and to the general reader.

Very Interesting book and well written.

excellent, informative and entertaining

Spiegelhalter starts his book by discussing the reliability of statistics about sexual experience - which sets the tone. He then goes on to describe changes in our behaviour - we have sex less often than 20 years ago, perhaps because there are more other exciting things to do, we have become more tolerant and adventurous in general, but less tolerant of sex with someone other than our partners. The final chapter deals with a really interesting and surprising fact - why is the surplus of boys over girls greater in the final years of the two world wars (and in 1973) and lowest in 1898? And some of the previous chapters take on a more historical perspective - nowadays births are most common in September (following a Christmas conception) but May and June were the top months for conception in the 1540-1649, with July and slightly more balance across 12 months, coming into its own by 1750-1834. The answer to the question about boys is, Spiegelhater suggests, related to sexual behaviours during war time and in 1973, a time which also saw spikes in sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies - and that more sex means more boys because it means more conceptions prior to ovulation. This suggests behaviours were very different indeed in 1898…Overall a book that will spread more light than heat - it's consistently interesting, but not something I found myself wanting to read as a page-turner.