Donald Symons

Donald Symons (1942–2024) was an American anthropologist best known as one of the founders of evolutionary psychology, and for pioneering the study of human sexuality from an evolutionary perspective. He is one of the most cited researchers in contemporary sex research. His work is referenced by scientists investigating an extremely diverse range of sexual phenomena. and "a landmark in its synthesis of evolutionary biology, anthropology, physiology, psychology, fiction, and cultural analysis, written with a combination of rigor and wit. It was a model for all subsequent books that apply evolution to human affairs, particularly mine." in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His last work, written with Catherine Salmon, was Warrior Lovers, an evolutionary analysis of slash fiction.