First published 2021
Steven Johnson examines how humanity doubled its life expectancy within a single century. He investigates the medical breakthroughs, public health systems, and improved living conditions that granted each person an average of twenty thousand additional days. Johnson traces the origins of this remarkable progress in human longevity. He calculates how many extra days resulted from vaccines, reduced famines, and safety innovations like seatbelts. The book reveals the cooperative networks and brilliant minds behind each life-saving discovery, supported by robust public institutions and collaborative research. Johnson argues that recognizing past progress is insufficient. He addresses the urgent question of maintaining these gains as public health systems confront new challenges. The author explores overlooked technologies and interventions that could mitigate future health crises. Johnson offers readers both an understanding of how we achieved longer lives and a framework for protecting those advances.
Genres: science, social-science, non-fiction, health, history-of-medicine, 21st-century, academic, history-of-science
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: informative, investigative
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
320 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books