Eve: How the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution

In Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution, science writer Cat Bohannon explores the extraordinary role of female biology in shaping the evolution of our species. Drawing on evolutionary biology, anthropology, genetics, and medical science, Bohannon traces the development of the female body across millions of years, revealing how adaptations involving reproduction, metabolism, immunity, and the brain have influenced not only human survival, but the very course of human evolution.

With refreshing candour, sharp wit, and an engaging sense of humour, Bohannon makes complex science remarkably accessible, taking readers from the origins of lactation and the evolution of pregnancy to the intricacies of the female brain. Along the way, she confronts a persistent blind spot in modern medicine: the historical exclusion and underrepresentation of females in scientific research, and the consequences this has had for our understanding of health and disease.

Combining scientific rigour with an often delightfully irreverent perspective, Bohannon challenges long-standing assumptions and invites readers to reconsider the story of human evolution. The result is a thought-provoking and surprisingly entertaining exploration of the female body, not as a variation of the male, but as an essential part of understanding what it means to be human.