How To Live Forever (Or Maybe Not)

Bill Gifford loves his dog. He'd like her to live a little longer. Gifford would like to live longer, too. This is the impetus for the lively Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (Or Die Trying). Going forward in history as well as efficacy, Gifford talks about all the ways humanity has tried to beat nature and the inevitable. Not all the kooks are in the past, either. He also talks about the science behind some the theories of aging and the often counter-intuitive practices that may have some effect (cold showers and starvation, anyone?). As an appendix, Gifford lists some of the methods and supplements that may have some influence on your ability to be spry at 106. At the conclusion of the book, Gifford says that the main element in maintaining health and longevity is "use it or lose it." Or maybe just good genes.

One of the villains of Spring Chicken is John Brinkley. Brinkley invented a surgical procedure involving goat testicles that was supposed to rejuvenate middle-aged men. Brinkley was a quack, but it made him incredibly wealthy. Charlatan by Brock Pope also deals with the birth of the modern medical establishment and the campaign to stop Brinkley and his ilk. This book is a bit of a romp through the first half of the 20th century, when there were many pseudo-doctors with fake treatments, but none as successful as Brinkley. Definitely worth picking up, if only to marvel at the audacity of the major players.

Another individual mentioned in Gifford's book, and with more sympathy, is Aubrey de Grey. Definitely not a quack, more of a fringe scientist (like most people involved with gerontology) and philosopher of aging, he is the main focus of Jonathan Weiner's Long for This World. Pulitzer Prize-winning Weiner looks at the aging process, what extreme longevity might mean, and just how we might go about achieving it. Another accessible, more philosophical choice.