Natalie Angier lifts the veil of secrecy from that most enigmatic of evolutionary masterpieces, the female body, exploring the essence of what it means to be a woman. Angier takes on everything from organs (breasts "are funny things, really, and we should learn to laugh at them") to orgasm (happily for women, the clitoris has 8,000 nerve fibers, twice the number in the penis).

Also delving into topics such as exercise and menopause, female aggression and evolutionary psychologists' faddish views of "female nature," she creates a joyful, fresh vision of womanhood.