Robert R. Provine (1943–2019)

The reader hoping for a complete explanation of the various behaviors will be disappointed: the research is still very much in early stages, and doesn't attract large grants. If the reader is interested in off-beat research in the making, Provine is an amiable guide.

I found it very interesting both to learn what they know, and how they research it. Provine clearly has some graduate students wondering what they have gotten themselves into. Catching people in the act is often the problem, as people are inhibited in certain behaviors by knowing that they are being watched, and many of these behaviors cannot be done at will. I wonder about a few of their conclusions: I think I can do a pretty good yawn at will (or maybe I need more sleep), and I wonder why, if a quarter of all adults engage in photic (light-induced) sneezing, I only recently heard of it (I am 61.) Some of these things are almost universal among chordates, and some are uniquely human.

Provine wisely starts off with yawning, laughing, crying, and only throws in things like vomiting and farting after the reader has had time to become so engaged that it isn't off-putting. I almost fell over laughing about Le Pétomane, the main attraction at Moulin Rouge from 1892 to 1914, particularly renowned for patriotically performing the La Marseillaise in “buttspeak.”

Probably not for everyone, but extremely interesting to many of us, and Mary Roach fans should definitely give this a try.… (mehr)