A List
2/7/05

BIAS IN EVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE EXPLORED IN ST. LAWRENCE TALK

CANTON – Elisabeth A. Lloyd, Arnold and Maxine Tanis Chair of History and 
Philosophy of science and professor of biology at Indiana University, 
will deliver the Kathryn Fraser Mackay Memorial Lecture at St. Lawrence 
University on Monday, February 21, at 8 p.m. in Eben Holden, on the topic 
"Something about Eve: Bias in Evolutionary Explanations of Female Orgasm." 
The event is open to the public, free of charge.
	Lloyd's books include The Structure and Confirmation of Evolutionary 
Theory, Keywords in Evolutionary Biology and, most recently, The Case 
of the Female Orgasm: Bias in the Science of Evolution. In the latter 
book, Lloyd examines the persistent puzzle of the evolution of human 
female orgasm. Why do most human females seem to show the trait, while 
few of our nonhuman primate relatives do? Offering new summaries of the 
human and nonhuman primate data on female orgasm, as well as cross-cultural 
and developmental information, Lloyd evaluates the adequacy of all of 
the available evolutionary accounts of female orgasm. As a result of 
this survey, she concludes that all but one of these accounts are failures.
	Lloyd received her B.A. from the University of Colorado and her Ph.D. 
from Princeton University. She has received numerous awards and grants, 
including several from the National Science Foundation. Her research interests 
are primarily in the philosophy of biology, general philosophy of science, 
the role of models in science and gender issues in science.
	The Mackay Memorial Lecture was established in memory of Kathryn Fraser 
Mackay '77 by her family, to honor her interests and spirit. Traditionally, 
coordination of the lectures alternates between the departments of philosophy 
and religious studies.

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