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Middle Age: A Natural History
David Bainbridge is a vet with a particular interest in evolutionary zoology - and he has just turned forty. As well as the usual concerns about greying hair, failing eyesight and goldfish levels of forgetfulness, he finds himself pondering some bigger questions: have I come to the end of my productive life as a human being? And what I am now for? By looking afresh at the latest research from the fields of anthropology, neuroscience, psychology, and reproductive biology, it seems that the answers are surprisingly, reassuringly encouraging. In clear, engaging and amiable prose, Bainbridge explains the science behind the physical, mental and emotional changes men and women experience between the ages of 40 and 60, and reveals the evolutionary - and personal - benefits of middle age, which is unique to human beings and helps to explain the extraordinary success of our species. Middle Age will change the way you think about mid-life, and help turn the 'crisis' into a cause for celebration.
- GenresNonfictionScienceHealth
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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123 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 10, 2023
A fresh perspective on middle age- the book explains it an important phase in your life where your goal is to pass knowledge and skill to the next generation. The book debunks myths about middle age- for example, men like behaving childish and are generally attractive to younger women (it natural and not a middle age phenomena) while women can still become pregnant with low risk of child abnormalities. David discusses sex, hormone and social changes in middle age through a scientific len, highlighting most middle age people go through life uneventfully, just gradually ageing with the bonus of lots of experience that can be passed on before we completely loss our marbles.
The only thing was the book read like David wrote a couple of scientific bullet points down, then padded out the chapter. An interesting read but nothing revolutionary :(
The only thing was the book read like David wrote a couple of scientific bullet points down, then padded out the chapter. An interesting read but nothing revolutionary :(
September 16, 2013
A hard-won argument over the merits of mid-life, binding zoology, biology, anthropology and psychology with a bemused tone. The yin: you have begun to lose the battle with your body. The yang: your brain, five times the size it should be, is at its peak. It's a "rage, rage against the dying of the light" that provides a modest amount of sunshine.
April 11, 2012
There are some interesting facts scattered throughout the book, but the author jumps to conclusions based on very flimsy evidence. In addition, the book is clearly written from the perspective of the author who is white, middle class, male, only 42, and a self-labelled optimist. His conclusions about middle age and its supposed function in evolutionary terms are very coloured by his own experience, I believe.
My favourite part of the book was the beginning when Bainbridge summarised a few possible reasons for middle age in humans, but once he had settled into espousing his favourite theory I lost interest.
Overall, if you want a few interesting snippets of information, and the perspective and (in my opinion) faulty conclusions of the author regarding middle age in humans, then give it a try.
My favourite part of the book was the beginning when Bainbridge summarised a few possible reasons for middle age in humans, but once he had settled into espousing his favourite theory I lost interest.
Overall, if you want a few interesting snippets of information, and the perspective and (in my opinion) faulty conclusions of the author regarding middle age in humans, then give it a try.
May 14, 2017
basically the author advises the public to use positivism to look at or re-look at the middle age. The myth of mid life crisis is a myth that public misunderstood, such as hot flashes, male mid life crisis..low sperm count, etc...Rather, author states that middle age male and female are unique and more positive among the younger and the older...we should take advantage of being at mid life "optimism"
April 19, 2020
Stramm evolutionsbiologische Sicht der Dinge mit den damit üblichen Einschränkungen, wenn alles nur als Mittel der Genweitergabe betrachtet wird. Manchmal interessant, oft verkürzt oder unlogisch interpretiert, aber immer schmissig und locker geschrieben.
January 14, 2019
Abandoned on page 114 of 284. Should be interesting but just isn’t.
February 13, 2023
Fascinating, optimistic read. Really liked how he recast middle age into a time that serves many purposes, rather than just the beginning of the end that it's become in pop culture. Incredibly well-researched - the selected bibliography is 30 pages long! And yet very easy to read and approachable, even for the non-scientist, I think.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
June 12, 2020
I read this just as I was leaving the zone and enjoyed it. A refreshingly evidence-based, logical, informative and fascinating account of middle age.
October 4, 2021
Audiobook - Chinese version
May 23, 2013
Just say it out loud - middle age - how drab, dull and gloomy sounding is that. The long slow slide to old age and beyond. Bits of body drooping, face showing cracks of a life lived, being overtaken in the job stakes, can't keep up with the ever changing language, music, TV of the youth, never heard of before medical issues, worries about retirement, elderly parents, teenager offspring, and so it goes on and on. Paraphrasing Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Middle Age, What Is It Good For.
Well, according to David Bainbridge, trained vet surgeon and with a PhD in Zoology, middle age is actually good for quite a lot of things. Mind you, he was only 42 when he wrote this book, so he has barely scratched the surface really in terms of the realities of middle age. Unlike some of us...but if it makes you feel better, keep reading.
The author has taken a biological viewpoint in his analysis of why human beings are really the only species with a defined period of time in the life cycle that can be called a middle age. We are neither young and we are neither old; we are, quite simply, in the middle. He defines the period of middle age as being the fifth and sixth decades, ie one's 40s and 50s. Because we are the only species which has a middle age, then from an evolutionary point of view, this period of time must be a necessary stage in the human life span. Essentially he puts this down to the very large brain that humans have - no other species has a brain quite so large as the human brain in proportion to the rest of the body mass.
His research and conclusions cover a huge range of topics broadly divided into three parts - Why Middle Age Has Never Been About Growing Old; The Triumph of the Middle Aged Mind; and Romance, Love, Sex and Babies After 40. So we learn that middle age spread is there for a reason, that the whale is the only other mammal to go through menopause and it is not about your eggs running out, is there really such a thing as 'empty nest syndrome' and 'mid life crisis', why we have the feeling that time moves faster as we get older, why mental health issues are at their lowest level during this time. And this list really just touches the sides of what middle age is all about, and how, really, according to the author, it is probably the best time of your life to be alive. Wow - bet you never thought that as you contemplated another grey hair, or hankered inexplicably after that brand new Porsche.
Initially when I started reading this, I thought how good it would have been to read it when I was in my early 40s, right at the beginning of 'middle age' - what to look forward to. But as I got closer to end of the book, I realised it all made a lot more sense, having a bit of experience of 'middle age' under my belt. Unbelievably perky, upbeat and optimistic about this stage in the human life cycle, this book makes for very interesting and entertaining reading. Not light enough to be a bed time read - deteriorating eyesight (!), but easily absorbed at any other time of the day, you will learn plenty about yourself and how this is really a stage to enjoy rather than get down in the dumps about.
Well, according to David Bainbridge, trained vet surgeon and with a PhD in Zoology, middle age is actually good for quite a lot of things. Mind you, he was only 42 when he wrote this book, so he has barely scratched the surface really in terms of the realities of middle age. Unlike some of us...but if it makes you feel better, keep reading.
The author has taken a biological viewpoint in his analysis of why human beings are really the only species with a defined period of time in the life cycle that can be called a middle age. We are neither young and we are neither old; we are, quite simply, in the middle. He defines the period of middle age as being the fifth and sixth decades, ie one's 40s and 50s. Because we are the only species which has a middle age, then from an evolutionary point of view, this period of time must be a necessary stage in the human life span. Essentially he puts this down to the very large brain that humans have - no other species has a brain quite so large as the human brain in proportion to the rest of the body mass.
His research and conclusions cover a huge range of topics broadly divided into three parts - Why Middle Age Has Never Been About Growing Old; The Triumph of the Middle Aged Mind; and Romance, Love, Sex and Babies After 40. So we learn that middle age spread is there for a reason, that the whale is the only other mammal to go through menopause and it is not about your eggs running out, is there really such a thing as 'empty nest syndrome' and 'mid life crisis', why we have the feeling that time moves faster as we get older, why mental health issues are at their lowest level during this time. And this list really just touches the sides of what middle age is all about, and how, really, according to the author, it is probably the best time of your life to be alive. Wow - bet you never thought that as you contemplated another grey hair, or hankered inexplicably after that brand new Porsche.
Initially when I started reading this, I thought how good it would have been to read it when I was in my early 40s, right at the beginning of 'middle age' - what to look forward to. But as I got closer to end of the book, I realised it all made a lot more sense, having a bit of experience of 'middle age' under my belt. Unbelievably perky, upbeat and optimistic about this stage in the human life cycle, this book makes for very interesting and entertaining reading. Not light enough to be a bed time read - deteriorating eyesight (!), but easily absorbed at any other time of the day, you will learn plenty about yourself and how this is really a stage to enjoy rather than get down in the dumps about.
July 28, 2016
Bainbridge has turned enormous amounts of science into an easy read, and manages to cast a positive spin on reaching middle age.
First, the negatives (about middle age, not the book) - sarcopaenia?! Ouch! No wonder my muscles are disappearing and fat has moved in where they used to be. In two short paragraphs, Bainbridge explains the process in such a way that I actually learned it. No, muscle doesn't 'turn into fat', but now I see why it's so easily summed up that way.
And my skin? Bainbridge has helped me realise my dermis has turned into something like a sticky Fruit Roll-Up that's got stuck to the bottom of the kids' lunch boxes, making my first thought in the morning and last thought at night 'smile - before the wind changes and you stay that way'.
But, as Bainbridge shows us, there are unique positives - we middle-agers are apparently phenomenally energy efficient, at our cognitive peak and our greatest time of mental stability, and, most joyous of all for anyone who's listened to us sharing our knowledge, our role is less about procreation and nurturing and more about provision and cultural perpetuation.
Standouts:
- Middle-age male bellies are inherently funny, and thus perhaps subsume the comedy role played by the penis in earlier years.
- It's not over until the fat lady has had the last baby.
First, the negatives (about middle age, not the book) - sarcopaenia?! Ouch! No wonder my muscles are disappearing and fat has moved in where they used to be. In two short paragraphs, Bainbridge explains the process in such a way that I actually learned it. No, muscle doesn't 'turn into fat', but now I see why it's so easily summed up that way.
And my skin? Bainbridge has helped me realise my dermis has turned into something like a sticky Fruit Roll-Up that's got stuck to the bottom of the kids' lunch boxes, making my first thought in the morning and last thought at night 'smile - before the wind changes and you stay that way'.
But, as Bainbridge shows us, there are unique positives - we middle-agers are apparently phenomenally energy efficient, at our cognitive peak and our greatest time of mental stability, and, most joyous of all for anyone who's listened to us sharing our knowledge, our role is less about procreation and nurturing and more about provision and cultural perpetuation.
Standouts:
- Middle-age male bellies are inherently funny, and thus perhaps subsume the comedy role played by the penis in earlier years.
- It's not over until the fat lady has had the last baby.
January 9, 2013
A good overview of the problems of middle age but he's a bit optimistic in places, I think, maybe because he's at the beginning of his own. He explains the biology well enough and gives some useful stats to back up his basic viewpoint, but we all know what you can do with those. His basic advice on how to avoid some of the pitfalls of this period are sound enough but there's nothing earth shattering about any of them. Like many popular science books it doesn't quite live up to expectations. That's why I'm giving it only 3 stars.
probably-not
April 4, 2013gr reviews
December 23, 2016
Very fun book !
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews