208 pages | © 2013

Cloth List Price $27.00 | ISBN: 9780226757896 | October 2013

“An ideal introduction to the science of aging and mortality. Interwoven with history and poetry, [this] erudite and eloquent book concisely explains the mechanisms underlying the lifespan of organisms ranging from nematode worms and chickweed to humans and redwoods. Considering their fates in terms of genetics and environment, Silvertown explores the questions that have bedeviled our species for as long as we've had the language to ask: why do we get old and why do we die?”—New Scientist