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Decoding Love
by
Andrew Trees
A smart, entertaining, and eye-opening look at the science of love, publishing for Valentine's Day
Relationships should be so simple. You meet someone. You fall in love. You live happily every after. This "romantic story line" has shaped our thinking about relationships for centuries. But the fairy tale is deeply flawed, and researchers today are making shocki...more
Relationships should be so simple. You meet someone. You fall in love. You live happily every after. This "romantic story line" has shaped our thinking about relationships for centuries. But the fairy tale is deeply flawed, and researchers today are making shocki...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
January 5th 2010
by Penguin Group (USA)
(first published 2009)
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Community Reviews
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The mysteries of love unravelled! Well, almost. On the plus side, this book covers a huge amount of territory, summarizing a vast amount of research on a number of varied topics and it does so in a light, breezy and highly readable style. The overview of John Gottman's work is very well done.
On the other hand, many of the conclusions drawn from a single study or pop culture reference seem rather far-fetched. Some of the examples meant to bolster the author’s arguments about biology s...more
On the other hand, many of the conclusions drawn from a single study or pop culture reference seem rather far-fetched. Some of the examples meant to bolster the author’s arguments about biology s...more
[Note: I won this book in a giveaway contest on Goodreads.]
The topic of the book – “decoding love” by drawing on the latest research in evolutionary biology – is interesting and the writing itself is very fluid. Unfortunately, by focusing so heavily on maintaining the reader’s interest, author Andrew Trees abandons the scientific rigor that one would expect (given the title and introduction) in dealing with this subject. Aside from the numerous non sequitur pop culture references, Mr...more
The topic of the book – “decoding love” by drawing on the latest research in evolutionary biology – is interesting and the writing itself is very fluid. Unfortunately, by focusing so heavily on maintaining the reader’s interest, author Andrew Trees abandons the scientific rigor that one would expect (given the title and introduction) in dealing with this subject. Aside from the numerous non sequitur pop culture references, Mr...more
This book was a pre-release, draft version of the book that I won in a giveaway contest.
The first 30 pages were really promising and offered various lines of reasoning that would be investigated further. Unfortunately, the book falls short in delivery and leads the reader to question what market this book is geared towards. Mainly, it isn't sophisticated enough to attract a reader well-versed in logic, econ, or the pscyhological sciences, but can also come across as too abstruse fo...more
The first 30 pages were really promising and offered various lines of reasoning that would be investigated further. Unfortunately, the book falls short in delivery and leads the reader to question what market this book is geared towards. Mainly, it isn't sophisticated enough to attract a reader well-versed in logic, econ, or the pscyhological sciences, but can also come across as too abstruse fo...more
Woot! Another first reads win! This book definitely appeals to my science-side, and what woman isn't interested in how to attract?
This book was a pretty interesting read. I had actually read about many of the studies done in here just through mainstream news headlines. The writer's style was very clean and clear cut. Even a person who reads scientific literature all the time can get bogged down by to much information, but Trees manages to simplify and consolidate alot of infor...more
This book was a pretty interesting read. I had actually read about many of the studies done in here just through mainstream news headlines. The writer's style was very clean and clear cut. Even a person who reads scientific literature all the time can get bogged down by to much information, but Trees manages to simplify and consolidate alot of infor...more
The author takes a lot of studies about attraction, dating, and relationships, and presents them in a fun easy-to-read format. What I enjoyed most about the book were all the strange scientific facts and cultural studies included. Attraction works in odd ways! Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the "if you are a woman, you should do this" dating advice-- most of the time that rubbed me the wrong way. And a section on game theory was so unclear I abandoned the book for a month...but coming ba...more
This was a free book, which I never turn down. It was very easy to read, and very entertaining. It looks at attraction, love and relationships from different non-storytale views such as using game theory and economics to explain love. Very interesting, but though the author claims to be a feminist he didn't come across as such at various points.
Interesting and informative, but not quite scholarly. He has a bibliographical essay at the end, which does not correspond directly to specific citations, so you don't know exactly what research lead to which conclusions. Otherwise, I gained insights that I have lasted 38 years not knowing.
Don't let chapter titles like "What I learned about dating from Sex In the City" and "What I learned about Dating from hanging out in bars" fool you -- Andrew Trees did his research. So much so that he practically pummels the reader with it. With every turn of the page you learn about prairie voles, smelly T-shirts, gorilla testicles, vaginal blood flow and whole host of silly-sounding scientific research. The end result is very interesting, but hardly convincing. I almost ga...more
I would rate this a 3.5.
I found this book very interesting, but a bit simplistic. I think it was meant for a general reader with very little ability to understand complex scientific reasoning. This was sad because I would have enjoyed more detail, however, it did mean that it was a really easy, enjoyable read.
I found this book very interesting, but a bit simplistic. I think it was meant for a general reader with very little ability to understand complex scientific reasoning. This was sad because I would have enjoyed more detail, however, it did mean that it was a really easy, enjoyable read.
A round up of scientific (evolutionary biology, economics, etc.) of research on dating, sex, and marriage. Nothing new (and no footnotes, though there is a bibliographical essay), but breezy and well-written
Another "gee-whiz" pop science book. So far, I'm not impressed with the author's voice -- not as engaging as Malcolm Gladwell -- or his review of the science -- not as credible or well-documented as Matt Ridley's The Red Queen. But the subject matter is still interesting. I especially appreciated the last chapter on marriage.
This is a book of stupidity.
I cannot relate. Not even the first few lines attracted me. I was disgusted, and I hated that I even purchased it.
Andrew Trees, you need to have the power to draw readers from the realistic world and create a bond. Are you just sitting there and writing what you'd wish to read? Clearly, I disliked this one.
Taymara.
I cannot relate. Not even the first few lines attracted me. I was disgusted, and I hated that I even purchased it.
Andrew Trees, you need to have the power to draw readers from the realistic world and create a bond. Are you just sitting there and writing what you'd wish to read? Clearly, I disliked this one.
Taymara.
This isn't really a find a mate book, it's more of an interesting look at the science of how people meet/hook up. Love vs sex is in there, male and female...it's kind of scattershot, but a quick and fun read.
This takes the mystery out of love and attraction! There is some good basic advice on who you are most likely to have success with in marriage.
I just won a copy of this from the first reads "program" at good reads ! How cool is that ? It really looks like an interesting book, and maybe I'll figure out why I'm attracted to bad boys. [ I think I know the answer, but I'll be interested to see if the hunch is correct. ]
I just got the book and started it yesterday - it's very interesting so far....
As of this date, I'm a little depressed about the ideas of have been exposed to in Trees's book. I'm beginn...more
I just got the book and started it yesterday - it's very interesting so far....
As of this date, I'm a little depressed about the ideas of have been exposed to in Trees's book. I'm beginn...more
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Single ladies...save your money. This book is a total crock. I should just be myself, really!?!
You know when you a newspaper has an article saying "Scientists say..." blah blah. Its kind of like a book of that. The guy writing it isn't a scientist and it shows. He draws some strange conclusions and makes some odd extrapolations. I also think he regularly mistakes cause for effect, and lets his own bias skew his interpretation much too often. I already learned everything I need to know about love from snoop dog records but anyway theres a lot of interesting stuff here and its eas...more
A compendium of research findings that are presented in greater (and better) detail in other works. The author, a former history grad student, does a neat job of summarizing the material, but his few stabs at analysis and application fall flat. Can be read in a few hours, a fact that more than offsets its lackluster rating. Finally, a cautionary note: The more you read about dating and love, and the more you intellectualize these subjects, the less dating you'll want to do.
Amos Yi
is currently reading it
TIP: DO NOT DATE ANYONE ELSE UNTIL YOU READ THIS BOOK.
serious.
"Try to make sure that the date includes at least one really intense moment of happiness. That will be the moment your date will remember. And whatever you do, end the date on a high note. That will color your date’s memory of the entire experience."
serious.
"Try to make sure that the date includes at least one really intense moment of happiness. That will be the moment your date will remember. And whatever you do, end the date on a high note. That will color your date’s memory of the entire experience."
In a nutshell, it's a compilation of studies related to love/dating/marriage. The author does break it down and make it easier to understand than a publication in a scientific journal, however, and it's helpful to have a variety of studies all in one place.
Meh. The auther just takes tidbits of scientific factoids already in existence form better books. There is nothing new here, nothing groundbreaking.
There are some mildly entertaining sections, if you skip over the repetitive 'findings' and 'experiments'.
There are some mildly entertaining sections, if you skip over the repetitive 'findings' and 'experiments'.
very intersting. not at all what I thought it was going to be but i enjoyed it!!
Ruben Malvaez
marked it as to-read
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