On the Origin of Sex (Hardback)

On the Origin of Sex (Hardback)

The Weird and Wonderful Science of How Our Planet is Populated

Lixing Sun

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Explore the spectacular science of sex - from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in between

A NEW SCIENTIST BOOK PICK FOR 2026

'Fascinating' SUNDAY TIMES

'This book will make you rethink what you thought you knew about sex' CAT BOHANNON

'A thrilling biological detective story. Brilliant told and relentlessly entertaining' CHARLES FOSTER

Explore the spectacular science of reproduction - from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in between

Let's talk about sex. Not boring, human sex, but the endlessly fascinating, varied and complex forms of reproduction that can be found in the rest of the natural world.

Whiptail lizards and California condors are capable of immaculate conception, while strawberries are reproductive flip-floppers. Clownfish can permanently change sex, while bearded dragons undergo temperature-dependent sex reversal. For the humble slime mould, sex can involve hundreds of mating types - a veritable bonanza.

Lixing Sun has spent decades expanding the bounds of what we know about reproduction, in all its many flavours. And as it turns out, sex is far more complex and eye-opening than we ever could have imagined.

Publication date: March 5, 2026

£22.00

ISBN: 9781805223283

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Science & Mathematics

On the Origin of Sex (Accessible EPUBAccessible EPUB)

On the Origin of Sex (Ebook)

The Weird and Wonderful Science of How Our Planet is Populated

Lixing Sun

Buy from

Amazon Bookshop.org Kobo Apple Books

Explore the spectacular science of sex - from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in between

A NEW SCIENTIST BOOK PICK FOR 2026

'Fascinating' SUNDAY TIMES

'This book will make you rethink what you thought you knew about sex' CAT BOHANNON

'A thrilling biological detective story. Brilliant told and relentlessly entertaining' CHARLES FOSTER

Explore the spectacular science of reproduction - from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in between

Let's talk about sex. Not boring, human sex, but the endlessly fascinating, varied and complex forms of reproduction that can be found in the rest of the natural world.

Whiptail lizards and California condors are capable of immaculate conception, while strawberries are reproductive flip-floppers. Clownfish can permanently change sex, while bearded dragons undergo temperature-dependent sex reversal. For the humble slime mould, sex can involve hundreds of mating types - a veritable bonanza.

Lixing Sun has spent decades expanding the bounds of what we know about reproduction, in all its many flavours. And as it turns out, sex is far more complex and eye-opening than we ever could have imagined.

Publication date: March 5, 2026

£16.99

ISBN: 9781805223306

ISBN 10 / ASIN: B0FC7TND3G

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Science & Mathematics

On the Origin of Sex (Hardback)

On the Origin of Sex (Audiobook)

The Weird and Wonderful Science of How Our Planet is Populated

Lixing Sun

Buy from

Audible Amazon Bookshop.org Kobo Apple Books

Explore the spectacular science of sex - from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in between

A NEW SCIENTIST BOOK PICK FOR 2026

'Fascinating' SUNDAY TIMES

'This book will make you rethink what you thought you knew about sex' CAT BOHANNON

'A thrilling biological detective story. Brilliant told and relentlessly entertaining' CHARLES FOSTER

Explore the spectacular science of reproduction – from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in between

Let's talk about sex. Not boring, human sex, but the endlessly fascinating, varied and complex forms of reproduction that can be found in the rest of the natural world.

Whiptail lizards and California condors are capable of immaculate conception, while strawberries are reproductive flip-floppers. Clownfish can permanently change sex, while bearded dragons undergo temperature-dependent sex reversal. For the humble slime mould, sex can involve hundreds of mating types – a veritable bonanza.

Lixing Sun has spent decades expanding the bounds of what we know about reproduction, in all its many flavours. And as it turns out, sex is far more complex and eye-opening than we ever could have imagined.

Publication date: March 5, 2026

£24.99

ISBN: 9781806490028

ISBN 10 / ASIN: B0GFF2WSHZ

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Science & Mathematics

Read by: Daniel York Loh

Reviews for On the Origin of Sex

'Edifying. It is hard to read On the Origin of Sex...and still believe that there are forms of sex that offend nature. If there's a configuration you can think of, almost certainly some other species has beaten you to it'

Elizabeth Kolbert NEW YORKER

'People make two mistakes about biological sex: first, that it's simple. Second, that we can backsolve its purpose and evolution based on that assumption. Lixing Sun rightfully skewers these assumptions in this wonderful and wide-ranging book. Smart, thoughtful, and witty, this book will make you rethink what you thought you knew about sex'

Cat Bohannon, author of EVE 

'Enlightening... [a] fascinating, accessible study of how sex shapes and underpins our lives'

Adam Weymouth SUNDAY TIMES

'Sex is costly, dangerous and weird. Why on earth should natural selection smile on a mechanism that creates individuals radically different from those who have, by reproducing, already demonstrated their fitness? Lixing Sun, in this thrilling biological detective story, brilliantly told and relentlessly entertaining, romps towards an answer'

Charles Foster, author of THE EDGES OF THE WORLD 

'By the Gods it is weird and wonderful ... getting stuck into the eye watering menagerie of the animal world'

Adam Rutherford BBC START THE WEEK

'Who can resist Lixing Sun's dive into the weird and wonderful science of reproduction?'

Alison Flood NEW SCIENTIST BOOKS OF 2026

'This is a delightful book! human sex in all its varieties now seems vanilla after this wondrous romp through the evolution of procreation and the startling ways of living that have emerged from the ancient challenge of surviving, reproducing and responding to a shifting world. Evolution has produced in Lixing Sun an unparalleled tour guide to the joy of other sex lives, vastly knowledgeable and tiggerishly enthusiastic, he clearly loves his subject and reading this is like being given a speed tour by a biologist Willy Wonka through a zoological garden of animal sex, gender, conflict and philosophy. Enjoyable, thought-provoking and striking, without ever being dense or baffling.'

Tom Mustill, author of HOW TO SPEAK WHALE 

'A brilliant book. Endlessly fascinating ... I urge you to get a copy'

Paul Ross TALK RADIO

'An eye-opening read. It's an absolutely essential tour through the animal kingdom's relentless tricks and sleights of hand when it comes to survival, and proof of just how much we're continuing to discover when it comes to the intricate complexity of life on Earth'

Kit Chapman, author of THE AGE OF ALCHEMY 

'Fascinating ... a fantastic book'

Dr Günes Taylor INTELLIGENCE SQUARED

'Combining terrific storytelling and solid science, Sun invites us on an amazing journey across time, bodies and biology. Based squarely in the science of evolutionary biology this book is an engaging, joyous, and deeply informative romp across the weird and wonderful landscapes of the science of sex'

Agustín Fuentes, author of SEX IS A SPECTRUM 

'Exciting, mysterious, and illuminating. Sun succeeds in doing the nearly impossible: conveying complex up-to-the-minute science in a style that is not only accessible but fascinating and even sexy. On the Origin of Sex is simply brilliant, helping the reader appreciate sex's glorious complexity throughout the living world'

David P Barash, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Washington, author of THE SOUL DELUSION 

'A rare and spirited work poised to change not just what readers know but how they see the world. Questions about the biological basis of human sex and gender are addressed with a winning combination of empirical rigour and engaging writing. On the Origin of Sex excels at making complex population genetics and evolutionary modelling feel both intuitive and entertaining'

Elizabeth DeNoma SHELF AWARENESS

'Charmingly accessible prose, dripping with raw enthusiasm for the subject. Sun lets the glorious and unsolved mystery of why sex evolved take centre stage, peppering us with mind-bending stories of the incredibly diverse and bizarre ways in which reproduction happens for all species on this planet. Sun does not shy away from hot-button topics like human gender or intersexuality in sports, making this essential reading for anyone who wants a solid grounding in the biology of sex to better understand human nature. Our bodies might just be vehicles for our haploid gametes to continue driving their germline into the future, but you can't help but admire the diversity of methods nature has concocted to help them get the job done'

Justin Gregg, author of IF NIETZSCHE WERE A NARWHAL 

'An entertaining and enlightening look at the ever-changing "juicy mysteries" of sex'

 KIRKUS

'Ducks with corkscrew penises, fish changing sex - what do we really know about sex and reproduction? Less than we think. Engaging and frequently mind-boggling .... On The Origin of Sex is stuffed with such examples, enlivening the biological nuts and bolts. Interesting and pacy ... Sun's scope is far more ambitious than tame human activities - instead he grapples with the big questions puzzling us about reproduction'

 NEW SCIENTIST

'Lucid, elegant and ambitious ... an evolutionary detective story about life's most puzzling act. By synthesising diverse strands of evolutionary thought and presenting them with vivid storytelling, On The Origin of Sex invites readers to reconsider one of biology's most fundamental phenomena .... [offering] a compelling reminder that the most basic features of life remain among its deepest mysteries'

 SRI LANKA GUARDIAN

'Praise for previous works'

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'A tour de force of evolutionary biology'

 Wall Street Journal

'This eye-opening book by Lixing Sun expertly explains how the natural world is filled to the brim with misleading signals and subterfuge'

Frans de Waal 

'A highly readable and well-written...wide-ranging and interdisciplinary book'

 Psychology Today

'Pacy, engaging and frequently mind-boggling .... On The Origin of Sex enlivens the biological nuts and bolts puzzling us about reproduction'

New Scientist 

Lixing Sun

Lixing Sun

Dr Lixing Sun first studied at East China Normal University in Shanghai before completing a PhD in ecology, behavior and evolution at the State University of New York and Syracuse University. He is currently a Distinguished Research Professor at Central Washington University. He has authored or coauthored over 60 research articles in scientific journals, and contributed extensively to a number of academic books, as well as authoring three non-trade books, the most recent of which was selected as a Book of the Week by the Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker. He was awarded a Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship in 2024.