A quirky and revealing exploration of the tangled science, history, and culture of human hair. Body hair: we’re covered in it. But for most of us, there’s too much or too little, it’s the wrong colour or in the wrong place. Collectively, we spend billions of dollars trying to change or control it. We’re fascinated, disgusted, and amused, and we don’t know why. Each patch on this wild romp through your furry real estate-from the top of your head to the tips of your toes-tells a story about survival, sex, and social life. Judy Wearing explores how and why hair has provoked discomfort in people through the ages and contemplates how our animality influences daily life. Equal parts curious, comic, and compelling, Anxious and Hairy draws on insights from evolutionary biology, psychology, anthropology, history, and art to uncover what our hair reveals about being human. From bearded female saints to Botoxed brows that dull empathy, hair exposes how biology and culture intersect. One thing is certain: you’ll never look at the human body the same way again. AUTHOR: Judy Wearing is an award-winning educator and author with a PhD in evolutionary biology and a second PhD in education. She has worked as a curriculum developer, adjunct professor, product developer in education publishing, director in educational organizations and a PhD coach. Her book Edison’s Concrete Piano: Flying Tanks, Six-Nippled Sheep, Walk-on-Water Shoes, and 12 Other Flops from Great Inventors was featured on CBC radio and the Discovery Channel. She lives in Guelph, Ontario.

Praise

“Judy Wearing provides a deliciously witty, accessible and scholarly romp through all things hirsute: from evolution to culture.  While, as she makes clear, she started this lifelong pursuit driven by curiosity, the resulting understanding of our follicles casts a profound light on what it is to be human. You will never see your body the same way. Brilliant!’
Laurence D Hurst FRS, author of The Evolution of Imperfection: the Science of Why We Aren’t and Can’t Be Perfect