A camera obscura reflects the world back but dimmer and inverted. Similarly, science has long viewed woman through a warped lens, one focused narrowly on her capacity for reproduction. As a result, there exists a vast knowledge gap when it comes to what we know about half of the bodies on the planet.

That is finally changing. Today, a new generation of researchers is turning its gaze to the organs traditionally bound up in baby-making-the uterus, ovaries and vagina-and illuminating them as part of a dynamic, resilient and ever-changing whole. Welcome to Vagina Obscura, an odyssey into a woman's body from a fresh perspective, ushering in a whole new cast of characters.

In Boston, a pair of biologists are growing artificial ovaries to counter the cascading health effects of menopause. In Melbourne, a urologist remaps the clitoris to fill in crucial gaps in female sexual anatomy. Given unparalleled access to labs and the latest research, journalist Rachel E. Gross takes readers on a scientific journey to the centre of a wonderous world where the uterus regrows itself, ovaries pump out fresh eggs and the clitoris pulses beneath the surface like a shimmering pyramid of nerves.

This paradigm shift is made possible by the growing understanding that sex and gender are not binary; we all share the same universal body plan and origin in the womb. That's why insights into the vaginal microbiome, ovarian stem cells and the biology of menstruation don't mean only a better understanding of female bodies, but a better understanding of male, non-binary, transgender and intersex bodies-in other words, all bodies.

By turns funny, lyrical, incisive and shocking, Vagina Obscura is a powerful testament to how the landscape of human knowledge can be rewritten to better serve everyone.

About the Author
Rachel E. Gross is an award-winning science journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. A former Knight Science Journalism Fellow and digital science editor of Smithsonian Magazine, she writes for BBC Future, the New York Times, and Scientific American.

Reviews
"Vagina Obscura should cause a revolution in how we think about the vagina." -- Rosamund Urwin - The Sunday Times
"This book is what we've been waiting for." -- Francesca Brown - Stylist
"This is something about our own bodies that are so often treated as mysterious and unknown when they're not unknown. We actually know quite a bit. The topic of this book is relevant to everybody." -- Riley Black - Science Friday
"Rachel E. Gross's mesmerizing and often humorous Vagina Obscura vividly uncovers the scientific and popular biases that have colluded to stem our knowledge about 'down there.' Gross brilliantly investigates questions regarding sex, sexuality, and r" -- Elizabeth Reis, author of Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex


Awards
Commended for Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence (Nonfiction) 2023.



Book Information
ISBN 9781324050537
Author Rachel E. Gross
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 275g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 140mm * 23mm