"The Big Bang Theory" actor Mayim Bialik holds a doctorate in neuroscience, has starred in two successful sitcoms where she's been surrounded by guys, and is the mother of two sons. That doesn't mean she didn't still learn plenty while writing her new book, "Boying Up: How to Be Brave, Bold and Brilliant."

A follow-up to her successful "Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart and Spectacular," the book is a guide for parents and kids for understanding the complex physical, emotional and social factors that go into making boys and men in the 21st century. And an important and unique aspect of "Boying Up" is that it talks about girls and what's going on with them too. "The more we normalize talking about body functions and body parts," Bialik told Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams during a recent "Salon Talks," "the less stigma it is has, and the less we have to as a society keep protecting boys from information that they should have and learn to be comfortable with from an early age… What I really wanted to do was present the information that I think all boys deserve to have and that all families deserve to have."