Many graduates of the SFA Brain Fitness for Older Adults educational program have said that they enjoyed studying the functioning of the brain at the cellular level. For similarly scientific-minded readers, a book scheduled for publication on October 19, 2009, is certain to capture and hold your attention. In his new 240-page book, How We Live and Why We Die: The Secret Lives of Cells, the author Lewis Wolpert guides readers on a tour of the human cell and explains the crucial role that cells play in every aspect of our lives, from birth to death.

Experience! recently received an advance review copy of How We Live and Why We Die from the publisher W.W. Norton & Company of New York. The writing style is so clear and readable that this book can definitely be recommended to interested laypersons, as well as to professionals.

The publisher's accurate description of the book's underlying theme says it best: "Imagine your body as a society of billions of individual creatures. Each of these tiny creatures has its own agenda, but millions of years of evolution have adapted them to work for the greater good of the entire society. This society is governed by a network of nerves that influence the collective through a system of weighted voting so complicated that it is impossible to replicate. Finally, imagine that this society is constantly under siege, fighting enemies from without and rogue elements from within. Looking at humanity through the lens of the cell -- the microscopic building block of all life -- is a mind-altering experience..."

Throughout his manuscript, which includes discussions ranging from the history of cell theory to contemporary controversies (such as the debate over stem cell research), Wolpert keeps the tone informative and brisk. Moreover, he succeeds at presenting scientific material in an original and witty manner, as indicated by a poignant quote he chose as a prelude to the text. Provided below, it comes from John Masefield, the English author who lived from 1878 to 1967:

   "What am I, Life? A thing of watery salt

   Held in cohesion by unresting cells,

   Which work they know not why, which never halt,

   Myself unwitting where their Master dwells."

Following is a detailed listing of the contents of How We Live and Why We Die: The Secret Lives of Cells:

The author Lewis Wolpert is Professor Emeritus of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College London. His previous books include Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast and Malignant Sadness, the basis for a BBC television series.