KISSING
A tumblr to share photos and stories related to my book The Science of Kissing.
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The Notebook
Brokeback Mountain
Lady and The Tramp
The Princess Bride
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When it comes to kissing, one of the most important neurotransmitters is dopamine, a kind of natural drug associated with the expectation of a reward that brings us feelings of pleasure. Spiking during a passionate kiss, dopamine is responsible for a rush of elation and craving, and can also result in the obsessive thoughts that many of us experience associated with a new romance—almost like an addiction. And no wonder: this neurotransmitter is involved in stimulating the same part of our brain as a line of cocaine.
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According to scholars of the relevant historical records, kissing as we know it doesn’t seem to make any documented appearance in human societies until around 1500 B.C. The earliest and best literary evidence we have for very ancient kissing comes from India’s Vedic Sanskrit texts, the foundations of the Hindu religion.
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I signed in this morning to share the exciting news that you can now purchase the digital version of The Science of Kissing for just $2.99 through February 18 - just in time for Valentines Day! (Thanks to my publisher Hachette!)
The book tells the story of the science and history behind humanity’s most intimate pastime, from neuroscience and endocrinology to evolutionary biology and genetics. You can read more about The Science of Kissing at my website and order your copy of the ebook at the sale price for a limited time here.
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During the Middle Ages a businesslike kiss was employed as a legal way to seal contracts and business agreements. Many men did not know how to read and write, so they would draw an “X” on the line and kiss it to make it legal. This carried over into the way we write “X” today to symbolize a kiss—as well as the expression “sealed with a kiss.Sheril Kirshenbaum - The Science Of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us
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Cosmic First Kiss
The Hubble telescope’s view of NGC 6302, a butterfly-shaped nebula surrounding a dying star, just 3,800 light-years away in the Scorpius constellation.
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Featured in the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2012
Lava Kiss: My husband and I, along with a tour guide and a group of friends, hiked up to what was formerly the Royal Gardens subdivision above Kalapana, Hawaii, where the last standing house was just recently taken over by the active lava flow. While waiting for the rain to pass, we started taking back-lit portraits of each other in front of the lava flow after I set up my camera on the tripod. For the last photo, my husband spontaneously dipped me in a kiss. It was a truly once-in-a-lifetime moment! (© Dallas Nagata White/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)
