Cracking the Aging Code, Josh Mitteldorf
Cracking the Aging Code, Josh Mitteldorf
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Cracking the Aging Code
The New Science of Growing Old - And What It Means for Staying Young

Author: Josh Mitteldorf, Dorion Sagan

Narrator: Stephen McLaughlin

Unabridged: 12 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/14/2016


Synopsis

A revolutionary examination of why we age, what it means for our health, and how we just might be able to fight it.

In Cracking the Aging Code, theoretical biologist Josh Mitteldorf and award-winning writer and ecological philosopher Dorion Sagan reveal that evolution and aging are even more complex and breathtaking than we originally thought. Using meticulous multidisciplinary science, as well as reviewing the history of our understanding about evolution, this book makes the case that aging is not something that “just happens,” nor is it the result of wear and tear or a genetic inevitability. Rather, aging has a fascinating evolutionary purpose: to stabilize populations and ecosystems, which are ever-threatened by cyclic swings that can lead to extinction.

When a population grows too fast it can put itself at risk of a wholesale wipeout. Aging has evolved to help us adjust our growth in a sustainable fashion as well as prevent an ecological crisis from starvation, predation, pollution, or infection.

This dynamic new understanding of aging is provocative, entertaining, and pioneering, and will challenge the way we understand aging, death, and just what makes us human.

About Josh Mitteldorf

Theoretical-biologist Josh Mitteldorf has a PhD from UPenn. He runs the website AgingAdvice.org, and writes a weekly column for ScienceBlog.com. Mitteldorf has had visiting research and teaching positions at various universities including MIT, Harvard, and Berkeley.

About Dorion Sagan

DORION SAGAN is a celebrated writer, ecological philosopher, and author or coauthor of several books, many of which have been translated into over a dozen languages, including Into the Cool, Up from Dragons, and Microcosmos. His work has appeared in Natural History, Smithsonian, Wired, and The New York Times, among other publications.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Doug on March 05, 2017

I was generous with 2 stars. This entire book is simply trying to prove (to the public, or the science community, I couldn't tell where it was aimed) that group selection is the main culprit behind why we are programmed to age. They do this by attacking the viewpoint of every single other theory acc......more

Goodreads review by Nilesh on January 29, 2017

This polemical book does more disservice than service overall. The authors have three agendas: - sow seeds against theoretical evolutionary sciences to promote their favourite group selection theories - link group selection conclusions to the concept of ageing as their own revolutionary idea - promote w......more

Goodreads review by Hajar on May 15, 2020

The authors try too hard to rewrite natural selection. Quite painful to read the first half of the book. I considered to leave the book unfinished but quite happy I skipped many pages instead. All in all, I only enjoyed the bits about calorie-restrictions and telomerase.......more

Goodreads review by Joe on November 22, 2016

Lots of information about the foundations of evolution theory, genetic science, scientific biases and experimental results on aging that are counter-intuitive but compelling. In a nutshell if you want to prolong lifespan, you should probably take a daily dose of aspirin and vitamin D for starters. M......more

Goodreads review by Battle on March 20, 2024

For a book dedicated to cracking the aging code, it sure does spend a lot of time denying the sciences of modern evolution, which he repeatedly undermines as “Neo Darwinian evolution”, a word which he will not hesitate to bring up a million times, which is funny because Josh Mitteldorf is apparently......more