New Scientist recommends a vital look at the science of fatherhood

Toddlers are less likely to wake up at night if dads take part in bedtime routinesTetra Images, LLC/Alamy

Dad Brain

Darby Saxbe, Bodley Head

DID you know that fathers with smaller testicles experience a stronger response in the brain when they look at pictures of their babies? Or that these men are also rated as more hands-on parents by their partners? Of course you didn’t – but these are among the many unexpected details woven into Darby Saxbe’s Dad Brain: The new science of fatherhood and how it shapes men’s lives.

Saxbe is a psychologist at the University of Southern California who researches parenting, and acknowledges upfront that it might be odd for a woman to write a whole book on fathers. But then, she adds, that hasn’t stopped the many men who research and opine on women’s health.