Thursday, May 15, 2008
A new book explores "The Rule of 12 Bonks" and other mathematical equations that help explain sex and relationships.
Sep 13, 2004 | Clio Cresswell certainly isn't the first single girl to agonize over the unpredictability of a new relationship, or wonder how many frogs she'll have to kiss before she finally meets her prince. But she's probably one of the few who believe that the answers to such romantic conundrums can be found in numbers -- and not the soft stuff like numerology, either. To make sense of love and life, the 30-year-old Australian mathematician instead turns to hardcore mathematics and mind-bending equations.
In her breezy new book, "Mathematics and Sex," Dr. Cresswell attempts to show that this dreaded discipline is more scintillating -- and more relevant -- than most of us ever dreamed. The book presents current mathematical research that can be used to answer questions like: How will we know when we've found "the one"? How much should individual partners compromise in a relationship? Who has better orgasms, men or women? Cresswell also uses mathematical equations to show how dating services work and why most people will end up happier if they actively proposition as many desirable partners as possible.
While at times Cresswell goes too far in dumbing down the subject -- for people who actually know something about math, the equations she uses will seem sparse and incomplete -- the connections she creates between abstract equations and human behavior are thought-provoking, unexpected and, well, fun.
Defying stereotypes of the unkempt academic, Cresswell (who was voted one of Australia's most beautiful people by a celebrity magazine in 2001) divides her time between lecturing about math at the University of New South Wales, writing an advice column for a women's magazine, juggling public speaking engagements, and talking about relationships and other issues on Australian TV. Salon spoke to her by phone while she was packing for a trip to the U.S.
How did you ever think to connect mathematics and sex?
Mathematics is the relationship of patterns. Obviously, when there are two people interacting, you can witness how they're responding to each other, and you can discern patterns in their behavior. We're very comfortable using math to predict where the stock market is going. But we rarely take the leap that math can be used in other situations.
While doing research, I came across these interesting equations that used math to figure out how much one should compromise in a marriage. These mathematicians took couples, observed their emotional responses to each other, and used similar prediction techniques to chart their relationships and to calculate whether the couples would stay together or break up.
I found these equations fascinating. When I brought them up them in my public speaking engagements, people would invariably laugh, but they'd also ask me more about the equations after the lecture. When I told a friend about this, he suggested that I see if there were more equations like them out there. I said no way -- I was sure it was just a fluke. But when I started researching the area of math and relationships, I found quite a bit of research.
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