Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything

A Science News Favorite Science Book of 2018


“A sweeping, glorious story of hormones, threaded through with sex, suffering, neurology, biology, medicine, and self-discovery.” —Siddhartha Mukherjee

Metabolism, behavior, sleep, mood swings, the immune system, fighting, fleeing, puberty, and sex: these are just a few of the things our bodies control with hormones. Armed with a healthy dose of wit and curiosity, medical journalist Randi Hutter Epstein reveals the “invigorating history” (Nature) of hormones and the age-old quest to control them through the back rooms, basements, and labs where endocrinology began.