What is the author's tone in The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley?

The tone of the book is somewhat casual, which is a surprise given the subject matter of the book. There is a danger in writing about science that the author will either make the work too technical and dull, filled with scientific detail or he will dumb down the material so much that it will lose its force.The author here avoids both extremes and keeps the book technically strong as well as easy to reach and conversational in tone. The text is copiously footnoted so if the reader is interested in following a particular thread to greater lengths, they can easily do so.