Bobbi S. Low
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Dr. Bobbi S. Low is a renowned authority in evolutionary and
behavioral ecology. A 1962 graduate of the University of Louisville with a Bachelors
Degree in Biology, she later went on to the University of Texas to earn a Masters Degree
in Evolutionary Zoology in 1964. She earned her Ph.D. in Evolutionary Zoology
from the University of Texas in 1967. Currently, she is a Professor of Resource
Ecology at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the
University of Michigan, Associate Director
of the Population Environment Dynamics Program, and Faculty Associate at
several centers within the Institute for Social Research.
Her research interests include the use of evolutionary theory to assist
in understanding human activities, particularly patterns of resource use. Her
specific areas of interest include degree of sexual dimorphism and mating
systems; ecological aspects of marriage systems; sexual differences in resource
use; and the behavioral ecology of conservation.
Bobbi Low is not only a professor but she is also a well-known author. Her
most famous work is entitled Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human
Behavior. In this book, Low uses an evolutionary approach to
understand and explain many common human actions. She explores conflicts and
natural selection, sex and early warfare. She concludes that men and women,
because of the difference in the numbers of sperm and eggs produced, are
evolutionarily designed to have disparate ambitions: males seek many mating
opportunities and females concentrate on acquiring the resources to ensure the
survival of their young. Low notes that many social problems--warfare and
environmental degradation among them--are the results of the power, perhaps
misdirected, of the reproductive drives of both men and women.
The following is list of some of Dr. Low's publications.
Low, B.S. 2000. Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human
Behavior. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Low, B.S. 2000. Sex, Wealth, and Fertility: Old Rules, New
Environments. L. Cronk, W. Irons, and N. Chagnon (eds.). Adaptation and Human
Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective. New York: Aldine.
Low, B.S. 1996. "Behavioral Ecology of Conservation in Traditional
Societies". Human Nature 7(4):353-379.
Low, B.S. 1994. "Human Sex Differences in Behavioral Ecological
Perspectives." Analyse & Kritik. 16:38-67.
Ridley, M. and B. Low, 1993. "Can Selfishness Save the Environment"?
Atlantic Monthly. (Sept 1993): 76-86.
Low, B.S. 1993. "Ecological Demography: A Synthetic Focus in
Evolutionary Anthropology". Evolutionary Anthropology. 1993: 106-112.
Low, B.S. 1992. "Sex, Coalitions, and Politics in Pre-industrial
Societies." Politics and the Life Sciences. 11 (1): 63-80.
Hill, E. and B.S. Low. 1991. "Contemporary Abortion Patterns: A Life
History Approach" Ethology And Sociobiology. 13: 35-48.
Low, B.S. 1991. "Reproductive Life in 19th Century Sweden: An
Evolutionary Perspective on Demographic Phenomena." Ethology and
Sociobiology. 12: 411-468.
Low, B.S. 1978. Environmental uncertainty and the parental strategies
of marsupials and placentals. American Naturalist. 112 (983): 197-213.
References:
Picture courtesy of Bobbi Low.
Low, B.S. 2000. Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human
Behavior. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Low, B.S. 1994. Human Sex Differences in Behavioral Ecological
Perspectives. Analyse & Kritik. 16:38-67.
Why Sex Matters
http://www.cogweb.english.ucsb.edu/Abstracts/Low_2000.html, April 24
Low, B.S. 2000. "Sex, Wealth, and Fertility: Old Rules, New
Environments." L. Cronk, W. Irons, and N. Chagnon (eds.). Adaptation and
Human Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective. New York: Aldine.
http://www.snre.umich.edu/people/faculty_detail.html?faculty_id=15
By Jessica Rathman