The new evolutionary psychologists, among them Steven Pinker who spoke last fall as part of the Penn Humanities Forum's year-long exploration of "Human Nature," are reviving theories about the innate differences between men and women. In her controversial new book, Woman: An Intimate Geography, Ms. Angier takes on Pinker & Co. Her ambitious and beautifully written work draws on evolutionary theory and Darwin, science and literature, medicine and history to conclude that when it comes to human nature, the so-called "universal laws" are meant to be broken.

Reception and Public Discussion

Featuring Natalie Angier in conversation with Jeanne Marecek, Professor of Psychology, Swarthmore College; Wendy Steiner, Richard L. Fisher Professor of English and Director, Penn Humanities Forum; and Ingrid Waldron, Professor and Undergraduate Chair of Biology and Donna and Larry Shelley Term Chair in Women's Studies at Penn.

RSVP required by Monday, March 13th; 215.573.8280 or humanities@sas.upenn.edu.

Known for pushing the bounds of science writing in stories that range from the exotic to the sometimes whimsical to the occasionally icky, from the Human Genome Project, to what female bugs want, to the octopus as an object of affection, Natalie Angier is the Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer for the New York Times, and author of several books, including Woman: An Intimate Geography, The Beauty of the Beastly, and Natural Obsessions.