Merchants of Immortality: Chasing the Dream of Human Life Extension

by Stephen S. Hall

Regenerative medicine and human life extension are among the most cutting-edge pursuits in science, and potentially among the most profitable. In Merchants of Immortality, Stephen S. Hall offers both an expose of this fascinating science and a case study of the billion-dollar industry that has grown up around it. At the center of the field are stem cell research and cloning -- topics of continuous ethical debate -- and the stem cell legislation that has unintentionally created a strange and thriving private-sector business niche.
Merchants of Immortality is a captivating, incisive account of a new frontier at the intersection of biology and business.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Biology

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

For nearly three decades, Stephen S. Hall has written about the intersection of science and society in books, magazine articles, and essays. He is the author, most recently, of Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience (2010), which grew out of a 2007 cover article in The New York Times Magazine.

His previous books include Size Matters: How Height Affects the Health, Happiness, and Success of Boys—and the Men They Become (2006), Merchants of Immortality: Chasing the Dream of Human Life Extension (2003), A Commotion in the Blood: Life, Death, and the Immune System (1997), Mapping the Next Millennium: How Computer-Driven Cartography Is Revolutionizing the Face of Science (1992), and Invisible Frontiers: The Race to Synthesize a Human Gene (1987). Most titles were acknowledged as a “Notable Book of the Year” by the New York Times Book Review.

Hall has received numerous awards, including the “Science in Society Award” in 2004 for book writing from the National Association of Science Writers for Merchants of Immortality, which was also a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Award, and the William B. Coley Award in 1998 from the Cancer Research Institute for A Commotion in the Blood. His work has also been widely anthologized, including in Best American Science Writing (2000, 2001, 2008, 2009), A Literary Companion to Science (1990), and The Beholder’s Eye (2005).

Between 1997 and 2000, Hall served as an editor of the New York Times Magazine as well as a Contributing Writer, and has published numerous cover stories for the Magazine. In addition to the New York Times, his journalism has appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic, New York, Science, The New Yorker, Technology Review, Scientific American, Discover, Smithsonian, and many other national publications. His essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Orion, and the Hastings Center Report.

In addition to writing, Hall teaches science journalism and explanatory journalism at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and also conducts writing workshops for scientists-in-training at New York University’s Carter Institute of Journalism. His many public appearances include a keynote address at the Keystone Symposium, grand rounds at university medical centers, lectures at the Hastings Center, and readings that have been featured on “Book TV.”

Hall graduated as an honors student in English literature from Beloit College in 1973, and lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Kiel Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dropped, far out of date

[Ariel Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I learned a lot from this book, which was a great example of creative nonfiction - a genre I first learned about during one of my final college years & I hadn't had much experience with outside of a classroom environment. Stephen Hall does an admirable job of breathing life into a topic that's very dry & factual. He uses great, original description & he makes an effort to get a visceral reaction from his readers at the same time he informs them.

Unfortunately, you can put a thousand coats of paint on a 2x4, but, in the end, it is going to always be a hard, plain, blunt instrument. The topics Hall addresses in Merchants of Immortality (stem cell research, cloning, etc.) require a lot of science & facts in order to make any sense. He doesn't condescend to "dumb it down" for the readers, which I appreciate, but I have to admit that there were many, many times when I struggled to wade through the dense information.

[Daniel]

soooooooo coooool!!!! my inner SCIENCE fanboy is jizzing

[Troy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out pretty good, interesting topics, but the execution was a bit dull in my opinion.