Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and Longevity

A thoughtful gift from Angelo and Emma, this book is right up my street and plays to many of the themes about which I read and write regularly in a work context. Ramakrishnan is a very humble, self-effacing and engaging author. Although this book is aimed at the lay person, I did feel at times that the level of detail and the technical specificities became a little overwhelming. Given that understanding how and why the body ages is still a nascent and evolving discipline, the science about how to prolong life was less interesting to me than the ethical debate around whether we should prolong life. Ramakrishnan therefore becomes more interesting in the latter part of Why We Die. If there is a key takeaway, then it is simply that in order to lead a long(er) life, lead a good life: eat, drink and exercise well while maximising sleep.

By Venki Ramakrishnan