ShelfLook
Tools About
Cover of How We Live and Why We Die

How long does it take to read How We Live and Why We Die?

Lewis Wolpert

How We Live and Why We Die by Lewis Wolpert takes about 4 hours 42 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 4 hours 42 minutes

A weekend read

First published 2009. 256 pages, about 70,400 words.

10 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 7 hours 49 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 4 hours 42 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 2 hours 56 minutes

The page count is the median across 4 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

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.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.

Subjects: History, Nonfiction, Science, Cytology, Cells

More by Lewis Wolpert

Books like this

Popular books of similar length