A Guide to Reproduction
Social Issues and Human Concerns

Examination of the environmental, technological and ethical aspects of human reproductive biology.

Irina Pollard (Author)

9780521418621, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 June 1994

428 pages, 41 b/w illus. 2 tables
23.5 x 15.6 x 3 cm, 0.805 kg

"Readers interested in advanced textbook in biology will enjoy this volume. Descriptions of the biology of reproduction, including anatomy, physiology, and medicine are thorough, informative and well-written." Judy E. Stern, Religious Studies Review

The purpose of this comprehensive text is to increase awareness of human reproduction and its consequences. The central theme links reproductive capacity, the social consequences of the multiple stresses this places on the environment and the ways this relates back to the reproductive health of humans and other animals. In the first section, the biology of human reproduction is discussed, including such topics as the treatment and causes of infertility, growth and maturation, parental behaviour and neonate biology. The effects of procreational biology on the foundation of human social structure are also examined. The second part deals with reproduction as it relates to health and social issues such as stress, fertility control, AIDS, teratogens and errors of sexual differentiation. It is an invaluable resource for all those wishing to update their knowledge of human reproductive biology.

Preface and acknowledgements
Part I. Reproductive Biology: 1. Fertility and infertility
2. Sex determination and gamete maturity
3. Neuroendocrine control of puberty
4. Control of the menstrual cycle
5. The testis and control of spermatogenesis
6. Sexual behaviour and pheromones
7. Sociobiology and reproductive success
8. Fertilization and initiation of development
9. Maternal physiology during gestation and fetal development
10. Parturition and lactation: hormonal control
11. Parental behaviour and the physiology of the neonate
12. Decline in male reproduction and the menopause
Part II. Reproduction and Social Issues: 13. Population dynamics, stress and the general theory of adaptation
14. Extinctions and the conservation of endangered species
15. Artificial control of fertility
16. Hormonal contributions to errors of sexual differentiation
17. The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic: a global emergency
18. The effects of nutrition and exercise on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis
19. Principles of teratology and an update on nicotine, ethanol and caffeine abuse
20. Ethical aspects of human reproductive biology
Index.

Subject Areas: Human biology [PSX], Animal reproduction [PSVH], Human reproduction, growth & development [MFK]