How We Age

In a society obsessed with the idea of eternal youth, biologist Colin Murphy offers a sober and honest discussion of what science really knows about aging. Without embellishments and loud speculation, she explains which processes underlie age-related changes, what direction research is taking, and how to distinguish evidence-based methods from promises from the realm of fantasy—while still keeping a sensible optimism.

The information space is flooded with questions about whether aging can be slowed or stopped altogether, how realistic it is to extend life, and whether immortality is achievable. Amid this stream, you find everything— from data-backed practices to bold hypotheses that still don’t go beyond imagination. To bring order to these ideas, Murphy—an instructor at Princeton University and a researcher working on aging in her own laboratory—describes the current state of the field without illusions. She discusses the ways scientists are trying to prolong life and improve its quality, which directions are considered promising, and how to correctly understand the results of experiments. Fundamental science rarely offers simple answers, but it helps you look at complex questions realistically—without rose-colored glasses, yet with hope grounded in facts.