Lewis Wolpert on how we live and why we die
How do we move, think and remember? Why do we get ill, age and die? Distinguished biologist Lewis Wolpert explains how cells provide the answers to the fundamental questions about our lives, in conversation with George Miller.
Cells are the basis of all life in the universe. Our bodies are made up of billions of them: an incredibly complex society that governs everything, from movement to memory and imagination. When we age, it is because our cells slow down; when we get ill, it is because our cells mutate or stop working.
In How We Live and Why We Die Wolpert provides a clear explanation of the science that underpins our lives. He explains how our bodies function and how we derive from a single cell – the egg. He examines the science behind the topics that are much discussed but rarely understood – stem-cell research, cloning, DNA – and explains how all life evolved from just one cell.
Lively and passionate, How We Live and Why We Die is an accessible guide to understanding the human body and, essentially, life itself.
Lewis Wolpert is a distinguished embryologist and an accomplished broadcaster. He is Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College, London, and has taken part in numerous radio programmes, particularly interviews with other scientists. A CBE and a Fellow of the Royal Society, he was chairman of the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science for four years.
