ANS Review Angiers-Woman

Although some of the science is now out of date, Natalie Angier's Woman: An Intimate Geography remains a lovely book, a blend of science journalism and feminist philosophy. Angier covers a remarkable amount of territory – from anatomy to hormones to culture – in easily digestible sections. For the most part, she stays out of the ongoing wars about differential male-female ability, and focuses her attention on what women are and can be. I appreciated the personal tone and activist bent of the book, such as the exhortation to women to engage in strength training. However, for my tastes Angier tries to pack too much cleverness into each sentence (prepare yourself for a constant stream of puns and pop culture references). On the whole, an enjoyable book for those fascinated by female bodies and womens' experiences in them.