THIS BOOK HAS TWO AMBITIONS: ONE EXPLICIT， ONE IMPLICIT.
The explicit intention is to present a problem that few peo-
ple know even exists， and that is the mystery of males， why
they re here and what they re for. The dilemma is best stated
with an illustration. Grizzly bear females carry， nurse， pro-
tect， and train their young. Male grizzlies take no role in any
，of these activities; they make no obvious contribution at all
to the energy needs of reproduction. All those burdens， such
as having to hunt and forage for a whole family instead of
just for one， fall onto the female s shoulders.
Given that fact---and this arrangement is very common in
nature--what good are males at all? Why did they arise， or
evolve， in the first place? There are many species that get
along perfectly well without them. Some of these reproduce
without using sex (that is， gene-mixing， or fertilization) at
all; in others， all the individuals make both sperm and eggs
and then reciprocally fertilize each other. Why are these al-
ternatives to males not more widely pursued? Why aren t we
all bisexual， with one gonad acting as a testes and one as an
ovary (only one of each is necessary for either reproductive
role anyway)?
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