The Scientification of Love
by Michel
Odent
Free Association Books Limited, 1999
Reviewed by Jake Marcus Cipolla
Lower Gwynedd PA USA
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 38 No. 2, April-May 2002, p. 40.
As he has since the publication
of his groundbreaking Birth Reborn, Dr. Michel Odent strives to reveal
the process of childbearing as an essentially primal one ruled by our
most basic physical makeup. In The Scientification of Love, Odent delves
even more deeply into the research that has been done, and that which
still needs to be done, concerning the impact of hormones on human and
other mammal reproduction.
From this description one
might imagine a technical treatise, but instead, Odent uses lay language
to describe the physiology of reproduction in all its aspects—romantic
love, desire for sex, conception, childbirth, bonding, breastfeeding,
and child rearing. Along the way, the reader learns how oxytocin is
released during orgasm and how hormonal release is inhibited by the
presence of bright lights and strangers.
Odent seeks to show that love can be systematically studied. He believes
that love starts at a molecular level. Odent illustrates how love, in
all its forms, is what has led humans to where we are today and invites
the reader to think new or expanded thoughts.
Unfortunately, one weakness of the book is that Odent does not define
love, but love appears in different forms in various sections. When
discussing the role of oxytocin in sexual relationships, love appears
as attraction. When discussing oxytocin’s involvement in the birth
process, love is equated with attachment. Perhaps of greatest importance
to studying the role of attachment in child development and the tendency
toward violence, Odent’s love can be read as the ability to empathize.
Odent’s central thesis is best described by Miriam Stoppard in
the introduction to the book:
He suggests that love (or attraction) has its roots at cellular level,
on the surface of cells in fact, in the form of receptors, which bind
to (or bond with) ‘informational substances’—ligands—chemicals
with messages attached. This phenomenon of locking on can be seen as
love at the molecular level and, as you would expect, it is highly selective.
Just as each caterpillar has its own particular leaf, each ligand has
only one receptor which it can lock on to, or love.
Along with the relevant scientific discoveries, Odent presents ligands
as essential to love as attachment, attraction, and the ability to empathize.
There are two significant areas of weakness in this otherwise fascinating
book. First it is awkwardly written, as though the author is not certain
how to systematically organize the sentences of each tiny chapter. The
reader needs to go back, reread, and reconstruct while reading a distinct,
limited subject chapter. My suspicion is that, since there is no attribution
to a translator of the book, Odent, a French national, may have written
this edition in English, his second language.
The second weakness in the organization of this book is that each chapter
includes a “Summary” at the end prior to a decent list of
references. In his introduction, Odent states that he believes the summaries
necessary because of the complexity of the material but the inclusion
of the summaries are actually distracting as they are small, oversimplified
fragments at the end of chapters that are short to begin with. The simplicity
can also make the reader doubt she has grasped the chapter itself since
the summary contains so little substance and the corresponding chapter
contains so much.
The book is a small but powerful piece of work. Dr. Odent is not afraid
to cite studies that have been known in the scientific literature for
some time but mainly ignored. He tells us of research that shows changes
in the brain that occur as labor progresses, and prepare both the mother
and her offspring for the critical bonding period. He speaks of how
the world’s various societies interrupt that critical bonding period,
for what he feels is the need to promote the growth of aggression.
Through his presentation in The Scientification of Love, Odent points
us in the direction he thinks medical and sociological research should
travel in pursuit of creating individuals capable of making productive
nonviolent societies. It is a goal worth pursuing. Breastfeeding counselors
look forward to seeing such research appear in the coming decades.
Last updated 11/17/06 by jlm.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:56 UTC 2007.
