Review: Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love

Helen Fisher's Why We Love is a tour de force of the science on love. Every applicable social science is brought into play, from sociology to neuroscience, we get a look at why humans behave the way they do when they're enthralled. Helen Fisher is an anthropologist who primarily wants to look at the evolutionary reasons why we love, however, and she does this exceedingly well: we look at love from the "big picture" view of mammals, to that of the homo genus's ascendency to man, to that of the historical change from hunter-gather to that of cosmopolitan man and woman.

Along the way, we look at the neuroscience of the brain in love, where Fisher cites her brain scanner study, as well as the cognitive and sociological study of love. Interlaced between this history and science is a wealth of art: quotes from plays, poems, and historical figures liter her word-scape. We're given a birds eye view on the complete centrality of love to the human condition. In no uncertain terms, she reveals to us that love affects every human of every age, and that the pain and joy of it is experienced by us all.

This all-encompassing view is also normative: We learn that we can and should manipulate the way that we love, and we should change our environment to favor the formation and continuation of love bonds. On the Kindle edition you can see where other have highlighted different sections, and the portion of the book that describes how to maintain love is, unsurprisingly, highlighted by many, many people.

Most people ought to read this book, from the ailing teen to the keen philosopher.