This book offers a critical summary of current sexual knowledge. It is written<br >for readers of any age who are interested in human sexuality and who want<br >to know more about its history and social implications.<br > It can， of course， hardly be said that there is a lack of printed material on<br >the subject. The list of pertinent publications already seems endless and is still<br >growing. There are now so many studies， surveys， reports， guides， manuals，<br >journals， newsletters， and magazine articles devoted to "sex" in all of its as-<br >pects that only a few full-time specialists can hope to keep track of them. In-<br >deed， even these specialists have to specialize further if they want to remain<br >up-to-date. Thus， most of them concentrate on selected areas of research， such<br >as sexual anatomy， the physiology of sexual responses， reproduction and con-<br >traception， sex therapy， sex education， gender identity problems， sexual mi-<br >norities， the history of sexual customs， sex legislation， erotic art， sexual ethics，<br >etc. This special research is being conducted in many countries by countless<br >individuals with a variety of goals and methods working from very different<br >assumptions. The results are therefore often uncertain， contradictory， and con-<br >fusing. Moreover， they are constantly being revised. Under the circumstances，<br >many ordinary citizens may find it as hard as ever to be well informed and<br >to reach any firm conclusions that could help them in their own lives. In the<br >end they may come to feel that the more they read about sex， the less they<br >know.<br > However， there is no need to give up and to leave the matter entirely to<br >the "experts." We may still be very far from understanding human sexuality，<br > but there are a few basic insights which are no longer disputed and which<br > deserve to be shared as widely as possible. Especially in the United States re-<br > cent research has produced a certain professional consensus on many for-<br > merly obscure and disputed issues， and this is already reflected in some of the<br > newer textbooks， college courses， and educational television programs. In<br > other words， while many areas of sex research remain controversial， it has<br > now become possible to offer the general public a first integrated， if still<br > somewhat limited view.<br > The Sex Atlas represents another attempt in this direction. It does not con-<br > tain any fresh speculations or sensational findings. Nor does it want to scan-<br > dalize， radicalize， or otherwise upset anyone. It deliberately refrains from<br > presenting any research of its own. Instead， it merely repeats what has been<br > said many times by the best contemporary scholars and scientists. In short，<br > it is nothing more and nothing less than a piece of popularization. It is not<br > trying to say anything new， but rather to state the well-known as clearly as<br > possible in a coherent and methodical fashion.<br > This does not mean that the text is entirely factual and free of value judg-<br > ments. On the contrary， even the casual reader will quickly discover that<br >