Such is the wit and imparted wisdom of the ages that Roach trades in, to great, laugh-'til-you-gag, or vice versa, effect, in not only Bonk but also in her two previous books, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife. ' Hello, yes this watch you sold me is all sticky and stuff?'

: 'A pale and watery blood often dripped from his nose, he drooled continually subject to attacks of diarrhea, he defecated in his bed without noticing it, there was a constant flow of semen. Who was Samuel Tissot, you ask? He was the author of Onanism or, A Treatise Upon the Disorders Produced by Masturbation, a 'slim, pernicious work of hyperbolic quackery' published in 1760, which is quoted in Roach's new book, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.ĭescribing 'the effects of self-pollution on a watchmaker referred to as L.D. Mary Roach is the funniest science writer since Samuel Tissot, bar none. This curious and generous engagement with her subjects makes for world-expanding reading, even if it leaves other questions unaddressed - such as the value of investing quite so much effort into the design of more comfortable outfits for snipers.Mary Roach will be at the Alamo Ritz on Monday night to discuss her new book, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. Army fashion advisers and stink-bomb engineers, delighting in discoveries such as a Hook and Loop Task Group devoted to the quest for a quieter Velcro. In “ Grunt,” her 2016 book on “the curious science of humans at war,” Roach interviewed U.S.

Institutions, with their many bureaucratic branchings, provide an especially rich selection of ecological niches in which to uncover highly specialized forms of life. You can see it in her attention to business cards and job titles, which she collects like a philatelist raiding a flea market: Human-Elephant Conflict Specialist, Bear Manager, Danger-Tree Faller-Blaster. Below the clever surface of her prose runs a preoccupation with human occupations. Like haiku, these monosyllabic titles are dense with meaning, and “Fuzz” follows the pattern in evoking both the furry elements and their attempted enforcement. This keen eye for quirk runs through Roach’s career - that, and a penchant for catchy, single-word titles: “ Bonk,” “ Gulp,” “ Stiff,” “ Spook” (2010’s “ Packing for Mars” being a garrulous exception).

Bonk roach