Testosterone: The Difference Maker

My book review of the definitive popular science work on testosterone and its biological consequences.

Last summer Carole Hooven, a university lecturer in Harvard's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, entered the sex and gender debates with a popular science work on testosterone. Hooven's T: The Story of Testosterone is a muted, well-researched apologia for the titular molecule. This work could not have arrived at a more perfect time. Sex and gender issues continue to be a source of conflict in public discourse, showing no signs of abating. Hooven gently refutes much of the in vogue “blank slatism” and/or extreme social constructivism about sex differences (e.g. the popular works of Rebecca M. Jordan-Young, Katrina Karkazis, Angela Saini, and Cordelia Fine). Hooven is an inoffensive and lucid narrator of the science, breaking down concepts and research findings from multiple disciplines, all of which concern the potent influence of testosterone on sex differences. These explained differences include morphology (anatomy, size, and strength), athletic performance, sexual preferenc…