Babysitting and All That

About the Book

Babysitting and All That saw its first light as a humorous account of the bane of young females in high school, namely, babysitting.

However, the demands of Olivia's academic career postponed it to more than ten years after she left school, and when the father-daughter team eventually got around to writing the book, after many years of study in various fields, it developed into a work of much wider scope.

The book embraces recent studies regarding the mental capacity of babies at birth, the profound effects the wonder of new life has on the very new parents, the selection of features and traits in primates and hominids such as dimorphism and grooming behaviour, and the role of various hormones in the procreation cycle. Indeed, through her studies in these fields Olivia unravelled the biological basis of love and romance.

Fresh and provocative views are offered of the procreation cycle and the role procreation has always played in shaping the vagaries of the malleable human psyche. Special attention is also given to the desperate but misguided attempts of do-gooders throughout known history to undo and disparage many of the more meaningful consequences of the work of Mother Nature on human development and human happiness.

The humorous writing style, in addition to the witty and clear expositions, marks the book as a groundbreaking work in the popular science genre.

Knee-jerk reactions to a book of this sort should be expected from those who regard themselves well versed in principles of pious doctrine - if not in the basics of sound reasoning - and who thus feel severely threatened by the concept of free expression of thought. However, to thinking people the book concludes with a message as well as a challenge.

About the Author

Keith Andrews had the dubious privilege of raising two colic babies, which equipped him well for writing a book such as Babysitting and All That.

His experiences as Toastmaster and ordained minister in the Anglican Church, together with his background in biochemical research, stood him in good stead when writing the book. Olivia, his co-writer, editor, and inspiration, is a lecturer in psychology and animal behaviour science. She also did a fair amount of the research, and as editor proved a real pain in the neck as any editor deserving of the title should be.