50 Times Higher Education8 February 2018
In the brain
of the beholder
Females are the ‘biological puppeteers’ driving
the evolution of allure, says Simon UnderdownA Taste for the Beautiful:
The Evolution of Attraction
By Michael J. Ryan
Princeton University Press
208pp, £22.95
ISBN 9780691167268
Published 7 February 2018A
ttraction is often regarded as
a matter of personal taste.
Swathes of poetry have been
written on the perception of
beauty: some beautiful, some
terrible. It’s the way our brains
tell the difference that has its
genesis in the evolution of
attraction.
This is a hugely enjoyable
book written with authority, easy
charm and a great deal of wit.
Michael J. Ryan summarising
his, not unimpressive, career as
“forty years studying the sexual
behaviour of a tiny, bumpy frog
in Central America” is one such
gem; contrasting the words of
Donald Rumsfeld with Dr Seuss
while pondering the development
of sexual beauty and mate prefer-
ence is another. This is science
communication as it should be
done: authoritative but never dull,
engaging but never dumbed down.
I’m in danger of straying into the
territory of bad puns, but it really
is a beautiful book.
One of the most compelling
arguments comes right at the
start, where a distinction is
drawn between sex and most
other biological functions such
as eating and sleeping. Such
activities are largely functional
and just happen. But Ryan argues
that sex is something different,
supported by a variety of physical
traits as well as complex rituals
and courtship behaviours that
can be found right across the
animal kingdom. As ever, we
humans like to think that our
characteristics are unique or
special, but here we seem to be
following the same pattern as
other animals.
The role of these adaptations
and behaviours is to increase the
chance of mating and thusproducing offspring – the ultimate
aim of evolution. Darwin was the
first (isn’t he always?) to ponder
the role of sexual attraction in
evolution, and his theory of
sexual selection elegantly
explained why animals develop
shimmering colours, elaborate
tails or bewitching calls, arguing
that they have an innate sense of
beauty. This creates a sexual arms
race that selects for ever more
extravagant displays.
While Darwin was able to
explain why many animals
evolved to be beautiful, he ran
into a dead end when it came to
how they evolved. Understanding
how animals perceive and respond
to beauty is the central issue
explored throughout the book.
Using a dazzling range of exam-
ples (do take a moment to google
the peacock spider; it will brighten
your day), Ryan builds a persua-
sive case for the role of the brain
as the crucial control mechanism
that drives the evolution of
beauty.
This link between beauty
and evolutionary success is
based specifically in the brains
of females, which gives them the
role of “biological puppeteers”,
essentially driving the develop-
ment of “beautiful” traits in
males. Once again the accoutre-
ments of human cultural adap-
tation can be explored and
understood from this perspective.
The epilogue is especially
thought-provoking and flags up
several unanswered questions on,
for example, gender and the
inherent nature of beauty that
will leave the reader pondering
the dynamics of beauty and
attraction long after putting the
book down.
So it turns out that Shakespeare
was wrong when he said “beauty
is bought by judgement of the
eye”. Attraction is rather the
domain of the little grey cells.Simon Underdown is senior
lecturer in biological anthropology
at Oxford Brookes University.Stephen Halliday, senior member, Pembroke College,
Cambridge, is reading Mark Purcell’sThe Country
House Library(Yale/National Trust, 2017).“The word
‘comprehensive’ barely does justice to this volume.
The author was curator of National Trust Libraries for
16 years and says that he spent ‘far too much time
driving and sitting on trains’ travelling between his
160 charges, as well as visiting many others.The
book offers a broadly chronological account of how
these fine collections were assembled and of the
buildings that house them, many themselves of
architectural interest. Purcell makes the point that
the design of the library often reflects the character
of the collection.Thus at Tyntesfield, in Somerset,
the Gothic revival architecture expresses the devotion
of its owners, the Gibbs family, to the Tractarians,
whose works by Newman, Keble and others are
prominent on its shelves.And with 150 magnificent
colour plates is it really only £45? Buy it quickly
before the publishers notice their mistake.”Maria Delgado, professor and director of research,
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University
of London, is readingVivien Leigh: Actress and Icon
(edited by Kate Dorney and Maggie B. Gale;
Manchester University Press, 2017).“The Vivien Leigh
archive, purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum
in 2013, provides the springboard for this fascinating
collection of essays re-evaluating the iconic British
actress and producer. In an important work of femin-
ist cultural historiography, the essays displace earlier
approaches to Leigh that see her work as secondary
to her personal life and her husband Laurence
Olivier’s supposedly superior talent. Insightful chap-
ters explore the relationship between Leigh’s public
and private personas, her preparatory work, perform-
ances and collaborations with French directors. Other
essays on her relationships with portrait photogra-
phers and costume designers point to a form of self-
fashioning also explored in the ‘living sets’ of her
home interiors, while the role of fan clubs in promot-
ing her legacy is duly recognised.”Richard Howells, professor of cultural sociology,
King’s College London, is reading Philip Pullman’s
La Belle Sauvage(Penguin Random House Children’s
and David Fickling Books, 2017).“As a great admirer
of Pullman’sHis Dark Materialstrilogy, it was inevit-
able that I was going to read this, his latest work,
and ‘prequel’ to the previous saga of Lyra, Oxford,
assorted witches and armoured bears. It’s a welcome
return to his intoxicating melange of the familiar
and the imaginary,wovenaround an epic struggle
between good and evil. Did this new instalmentneed
to be written? Well, the backstory has echoes of
Homer’sOdyssey– although the narrative tension is
relaxed by our already knowing that Lyra must survive.
And since it’s the first volume ofThe Book of Dust
series, I would have liked to have read more about
the actual Dust. Still, there are two more volumes to
come and, yes, of course: I will be reading them all.”A weekly look over the shoulders
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