Why We Love

In this entertaining and accessible exploration of love, Oxford anthropologist Dr Anna Machin dives into the science behind the myriad types of love that exist in the world, including romantic love, parental love, friendships, love for pets, football teams, religious love and even love for our smartphones.

Through original research brought to life by interviews and case studies, and encompassing such fascinating areas as polyamorous relationships, parasocial (love for a celebrity) and sacred loves, this book argues that it is time to stop putting romantic love on a pedestal. By exploring the science that illuminates the benefits of all our different close relationships, Dr Anna Machin encourages us to reconsider the importance of love in our own lives, to interrogate our own experiences, and to reconnect with the heart of what it really means to be human.

“Love is surely the single most all-encompassing emotion we experience. It binds us together as couples, as parents and offspring, as members of an extended family, even as a community. It defines what it is to be human. This book opens the Pandora's Box on this most complex and puzzling aspect of what it is to be human.”

Robin Dunbar, author of Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships
Even though it is what makes the world go around, we have trouble describing love except as a warm feeling. Anna Machin offers a lively guide to the many kinds of human love that exist, and the biology and psychology that explain why we love the way we do. Frans de Waal, author of Mama’s Last Hug - Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves
Love sits at the center of human existence, according to this sharp survey from anthropologist Machin... Machin draws from plenty of studies of both the human and animal worlds, and her personal interjections are energizing... this provocative account is a fitting tribute to its subject. Publishers Weekly
Robin Dunbar, author of Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships
Even though it is what makes the world go around, we have trouble describing love except as a warm feeling. Anna Machin offers a lively guide to the many kinds of human love that exist, and the biology and psychology that explain why we love the way we do. Frans de Waal, author of Mama’s Last Hug - Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves
Love sits at the center of human existence, according to this sharp survey from anthropologist Machin... Machin draws from plenty of studies of both the human and animal worlds, and her personal interjections are energizing... this provocative account is a fitting tribute to its subject. Publishers Weekly

Dr Anna Machin is an Evolutionary Anthropologist. She studied Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University and University College London before gaining her PhD from Reading University in 2006. Following this she joined the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group, headed by Professor Robin Dunbar, at the University of Oxford, where for the past decade she has pursued her work on the science and anthropology of close human relationships.

In this entertaining and accessible exploration of love, Oxford anthropologist Dr Anna Machin dives into the science behind the myriad types of love that exist in the world, including romantic love, parental love, friendships, love for pets, football teams, religious love and even love for our smartphones. Through original research brought to life by interviews and case studies, and encompassing such fascinating areas as polyamorous relationships, parasocial (love for a celebrity) and sacred loves, this book argues that it is time to stop putting romantic love on a pedestal. By exploring the science that illuminates the benefits of all our different close relationships, Dr Anna Machin encourages us to reconsider the importance of love in our own lives, to interrogate our own experiences, and to reconnect with the heart of what it really means to be human.

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