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Laughter: A Scientific Investigation
Robert R. Provine
Penguin
December 2001
On Sale: December 1, 2001
272 pages
ISBN: 0141002255
EAN: 9780141002255
Paperback (reprint)
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Non-Fiction
The first comprehensive, scientific—and often humorous—look
at one of our most common yet complex and puzzling
behaviors, by the recognized expert in the field Guffaws in a crowded bar, giggles that punctuate lovers'
murmurs, a blaring TV laugh track—the sounds of laughter are
a fundamental part of life's texture. Science has largely
overlooked this basic component of our humanity, but in
Laughter neurobiologist Robert Provine takes a
long-anticipated and wide-ranging look at this intriguing
and surprising topic. Based on a decade of work in the field, Provine reveals that
laughter is mostly a tool in social relationships rather
than a simple response to humor; that women laugh more at
men than vice versa; that speakers tend to laugh more than
their audiences; that tickling rather than being a reflex is
actually a form of communication. Drawing upon the latest
evidence, much of it presented here for the first time,
Provine's analysis of laughter includes such diverse topics
as the sonic analysis of laughter, how laughter has been
musically notated in opera scores, a 1962 laughing epidemic
that immobilized an entire African community, and the
genuine health benefits of laughing. Laughter is the rare science book that is both a
groundbreaking study and wonderfully entertaining
exploration of the human animal.
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