Why We Love : The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love

Author: Helen Fisher
List Price: $25.00
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0805069135
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. (04 February, 2004)
Sales Rank: 1,770
Average Customer Rating: 3 out of 5

Customer Reviews

Rating: 5 out of 5
wish i'd read this earlier in life
I am a big fan of Helen Fisher. She has her way with words to make the most dense subject fascinating. This book is no exception. I kept thinking how this book might have saved me time and grief in my 30's. Anyone in the throes of love will understand the agitation of the situation after reading this book and anyone looking for love will look more intelligently. What more is there?

Rating: 2 out of 5
queasy mixture of science and Cosmo Girl
This week's issue of the British magazine, "The Economist" (Feb 14, 2004), has a three-page summary of the scientific studies in this book that's breezier to read and more memorable than the book itself. So if you're on a budget, buy the Feb 14 "Economist" instead. I found the book to be a queasy mixture of science and Cosmo Girl advice ("stay attractive. smile more."). So if you buy "The Economist" and "Cosmo," you don't need this.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Enjoyable reading for its intended audience
Some of the five people who reviewed this earlier here than I did judged the book as if it were intended as something more than it is. Fisher is a scientist, but her readership includes many who are just interested in romantic love as a human phenomenon. As a professional book reviewer as well as a physicist (Ph.D. though that matters little here), I always strive to evaluate how well the book serves its intended audience, not whether it meets the standards of a peer-reviewed journal.

I often recommend books to a subset of the people who are reading my reviews. In this case, I think Helen Fisher has done a remarkably good job of sharing her own research and that of others, drawing conclusions which she admits are sometimes speculative, and sharing them with people who appreciate romance as much as she does.

You can read my review, as published as the lead review in the Dallas Morning News on 2/8/04, at my personal review archive, The Science Shelf (www.scienceshelf.com/WhyWeLove.htm).



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