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"Intriguing look at why we love"
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted February 25, 2004

This intriguing look at why we love responds to that question and more such as when we fall out of love and implies why cheating on one's love occurs. Using survey techniques applied globally and scrutinizing available governmental records to gather information and evaluate research data on human behavior, Read more...

"The Science of Romantic Love"
Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted May 9, 2004

From time immemorial philosophers, poets, writers, and probably anyone else who could voice an opinion have pondered over the question, what is romantic love? In fact, if you ask someone to describe its attributes, you would probably be informed that once you experience romantic love it is difficult to control. For Read more...

Summary

A groundbreaking exploration of our most complex and mysterious emotion Elation, mood swings, sleeplessness, and obsession—these are the tell-tale signs of someone in the throes of romantic passion. In this revealing new book, renowned anthropologist Helen Fisher explains why this experience— which cuts across time, geography, and gender—is a force as powerful as the need for food or sleep. Why We Love begins by presenting the results of a scientific study in which Fisher scanned the brains of people who had just fallen madly in love. She proves, at last, what researchers had only suspected: when you fall in love, primordial areas of the brain "light up" with increased blood flow, creating romantic passion. Fisher uses this new research to show exactly what you experience when you fall in love, why you choose one person rather than another, and how romantic love affects your sex drive and your feelings of attachment to a partner. She argues that all animals feel romantic attraction, that love at first sight comes out of nature, and that human romance evolved for crucial reasons of survival. Lastly, she offers concrete suggestions on how to control this ancient passion, and she optimistically explores the future of romantic love in our chaotic modern world. Provocative, enlightening, and persuasive, Why We Love offers radical new answers to the age-old question of what love is and thus provides invaluable new insights into keeping love alive.