Abstract

We hear so much about teenagers in the media, mostly bad, but is this the whole story? Why are humans the only species to have teenagers? Why did we evolve them? What are they for? And why don’t they always see eye-to-eye with adults?

Dr David Bainbridge is of the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at Cambridge. He studied Zoology and Veterinary Medicine at Emmanuel College. He is a University Clinical Veterinary Anatomist as well as a popular science writer. His books include: Teenagers: A Natural History, The X in Sex: How the X chromosome controls our lives and Beyond the Zonules of Zinn: A Fantastic Journey through your Brain. He maintains his own website at: http://www.davidbainbridge.org/