Sex, Genes & Rock ’n’ Roll

The School of Animal, Plant and Environment Sciences and Wits Alumni presents Prof. Rob Brooks from Sydney University who will launch his book entitled Sex, Genes & Rock ‘n’ Roll: How evolution has shaped our modern world, in South Africa.

Evolution might be the most important idea anyone ever had, as philosopher Dan Dennett puts it, but outside of biology the awesome power of evolutionary theory remains underappreciated and underused. For too long, biology has failed to integrate with sociological, psychological and economic explanations for contemporary phenomena. Now Brooks explores some very modern phenomena, including obesity, Asia’s missing women, decisions about children’s schooling, the links between sex, inequality and violence, and the appalling mortality rates among rock stars, to show that evolution can sit comfortably with other explanations in helping us understand our lives and our world.