---
title: "In New Book, Biologist Shares Natural History of ‘The Other Big Bang’"
date: 2024-12-04T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/in-new-book-biologist-shares-natural-history-of-the-other-big-bang"
section: Articles
---
# In New Book, Biologist Shares Natural History of ‘The Other Big Bang’

*December 4, 2024* — by [Emily C. Nunez](/author/emily-c-nunez)


> Researcher Explores Why Humans Have Sex—and Sexes—in a World Where Life Requires Neither

*Sexbook istock 1920x1080 — A UMD scientist's new book leverages evolutionary biology to answer a central question of human life: “Why do we have sexes (and sex) at all?”*

University of Maryland biology Professor Eric Haag has spent his career studying animal reproduction, but people’s sex lives never factored into his research. That changed in 2014 when a cancer diagnosis prompted Haag to take stock of his career.

“Thankfully, my treatment worked, but it reminded me that I'm not going to be here forever,” Haag said. “As much as I love the nitty-gritty details of evolutionary biology, there might be 20 people who look forward to my next paper. So I thought, ‘Can I offer the world anything of more general value?’”

Haag concluded that a scientific history of human sex would hold broader appeal than reproduction in nematode worms, which is one of his core research subjects. He also recognized a need for greater understanding around divisive issues that stem from living in a “gendered world”—like equity in sports, LGBTQ+ rights or the gender pay gap—so he began putting it all down in a book.

“A few years ago, it struck me that, while the arguments over sexes and gender are undeniably important (and often rather heated), most of those engaged in them have little sense of the deep history of the very phenomenon about which they argue,” Haag writes in the introduction.


*book cover*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Biology](https://today.umd.edu/topic/biology), [Books](https://today.umd.edu/topic/books), [Gender](https://today.umd.edu/topic/gender), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)