Battle of the Sexes

Coupling dramatic photographs with the insights of top scientists, this book portrays sex in the natural world as a kind of gorgeous warfare, hardly the cuddly bonding ritual that some humans wish it to be. ""The recurring theme of this book is that the opportunities created by sex differ for males and females,"" writes Sparks, producer of the award-winning BBC Life on Earth series and author of 11 books. Sparks illustrates the tremendous differential with panoramic sweep and arresting detail. Sperm is virtually countless in males of every species while female eggs are comparatively precious and few, so males compete, often savagely, to inseminate as many females as possible. Females, meanwhile, go for quality, seeking ""perhaps the most elegant dancer, the most accomplished hunter or simply the biggest and most belligerent male."" In witty, literate language, Sparks describes the sometimes incredible complexity and risk involved in the apparently harmonious act of sexual intercourse. His description of the coupling of millipedes sounds like the docking of alien space craft. The shape of the male's organs is surreal, ""designed to twist and turn like a trowel inside the female's vulva. What the male is doing is waging war on alien sperm!"" A female elephant seal can die from the crushing weight of a male on her back, and those same bulls ""can expect to breed for only a year or two before being beaten by younger and more virile males."" Spark takes readers for an eye-opening walk on the wild side, ensuring that the mystery of sex will never seem tame again. Color photos throughout. (Mar.)