Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History

A 2012 New York Times Notable Book A 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Award Winner in the Science & Technology category An engaging narrative about an incredible life-giving organ and its imperiled modern fate. Did you know that breast milk contains substances similar to cannabis? Or that its sold on the Internet for 262 times the price of oil? Feted and fetishized the breast is an evolutionary masterpiece. But in the modern world the breast is changing. Breasts are getting bigger arriving earlier and attracting newfangled chemicals. Increasingly the odds are stacked against us in the struggle with breast cancer even among men. What makes breasts so mercurialand so vulnerable? In this informative and highly entertaining account intrepid science reporter Florence Williams sets out to uncover the latest scientific findings from the fields of anthropology biology and medicine. Her investigation follows the life cycle of the breast from puberty to pregnancy to menopause taking her from a plastic surgeons office where she learns about the importance of cup size in Texas to the laboratory where she discovers the presence of environmental toxins in her own breast milk. The result is a fascinating exploration of where breasts came from where they have ended up and what we can do to save them. 12 illustrations