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Por ti no pasan los años
Lewis Wolpert, reknown biologist and octogenarian, explores the scientific background and the implications of our ageing population. In this investigation he tackles the subject from ageism to euthanasia to anti-ageing cream and, tries to understand his own ageing. Witty, frank and inspiring, Lewis Wolpert is the perfect guide to 'looking very well'.
272 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2011
11 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Lewis Wolpert
34 books108 followersLewis Wolpert CBE FRS FRSL (born October 19, 1929) is a developmental biologist, author, and broadcaster.
Career
He was educated at the University of Witwatersrand, Imperial College London, and at King's College London. He is presently Emeritus Professor of Biology as applied to Medicine in the Department of Anatomy and developmental biology at University College London.
He is well known in his field for elaborating and championing the ideas of positional information and positional value: molecular signals and internal cellular responses to them that enable cells to do the right thing in the right place during embryonic development. The essence of these concepts is that there is a dedicated set of molecules for spatial coordination of cells that is the same across many species and across different developmental stages and tissues. The discovery of Hox gene codes in flies and vertebrates has largely vindicated Wolpert's positional value concept, while identification of growth factor morphogens in many species has supported the concept of positional information.
In addition to his scientific and research publications, he has written about his own experience of clinical depression in Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy of Depression. This was turned into three television programmes entitled 'A Living Hell' which he presented on BBC2.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1980 and awarded the CBE in 1990. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999.
He is a Vice-President of the British Humanist Association.
Theories
Wolpert is regarded as a rationalist. In an April 7, 2005 article entitled "Spiked", The Guardian asked a series of scientists "What is the one thing everyone should learn about science?" Wolpert responded, "I would teach the world that science is the best way to understand the world, and that for any set of observations, there is only one correct explanation. Also, science is value-free, as it explains the world as it is. Ethical issues arise only when science is applied to technology – from medicine to industry."
In a lecture entitled "Is Science Dangerous?", he expanded on this: "I regard it as ethically unacceptable and impractical to censor any aspect of trying to understand the nature of our world."
On May 25, 1994, Wolpert conducted an hour-long interview with Dr. Francis Crick called "How the Brain 'sees' " for The Times Dillon Science Forum; a video of the interview was produced by Just Results Video Productions for The Times.
On January 15, 2004, Wolpert and biologist/ parapsychologist Rupert Sheldrake engaged in a live debate regarding the evidence for telepathy. It took place at the Royal Society of Arts in London.
In the late 1960s Wolpert proposed the illustrative French flag model, which explains how signalling between cells early in morphogenesis could be used to inform cells with the same Genetic regulatory network of their position and role.
He is credited with the famous quote: "It is not birth, marriage, or death, but gastrulation which is truly the most important time in your life."
An early book was The Unnatural Nature of Science. His most recent book is Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
In May 2008, he gave one of four plenary lectures at the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology in Sigtuna, Sweden. His talk was reported as follows:
Lewis Wolpert's plenary address entitled "The Origins of Science and Religion" was provocative, amusing and from a totally materialist perspective. In his view, religion arose from the uniquely human need for causal explanations, and neither religion nor philosophy contributed anything of importance to scientific undersanding. ... ESSSAT is to be congratulated for offering its platform to a strong-minded materialist, but in the end Wolpert proved unable to enter serious debate with the conference theme or its participants.
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Career
He was educated at the University of Witwatersrand, Imperial College London, and at King's College London. He is presently Emeritus Professor of Biology as applied to Medicine in the Department of Anatomy and developmental biology at University College London.
He is well known in his field for elaborating and championing the ideas of positional information and positional value: molecular signals and internal cellular responses to them that enable cells to do the right thing in the right place during embryonic development. The essence of these concepts is that there is a dedicated set of molecules for spatial coordination of cells that is the same across many species and across different developmental stages and tissues. The discovery of Hox gene codes in flies and vertebrates has largely vindicated Wolpert's positional value concept, while identification of growth factor morphogens in many species has supported the concept of positional information.
In addition to his scientific and research publications, he has written about his own experience of clinical depression in Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy of Depression. This was turned into three television programmes entitled 'A Living Hell' which he presented on BBC2.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1980 and awarded the CBE in 1990. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999.
He is a Vice-President of the British Humanist Association.
Theories
Wolpert is regarded as a rationalist. In an April 7, 2005 article entitled "Spiked", The Guardian asked a series of scientists "What is the one thing everyone should learn about science?" Wolpert responded, "I would teach the world that science is the best way to understand the world, and that for any set of observations, there is only one correct explanation. Also, science is value-free, as it explains the world as it is. Ethical issues arise only when science is applied to technology – from medicine to industry."
In a lecture entitled "Is Science Dangerous?", he expanded on this: "I regard it as ethically unacceptable and impractical to censor any aspect of trying to understand the nature of our world."
On May 25, 1994, Wolpert conducted an hour-long interview with Dr. Francis Crick called "How the Brain 'sees' " for The Times Dillon Science Forum; a video of the interview was produced by Just Results Video Productions for The Times.
On January 15, 2004, Wolpert and biologist/ parapsychologist Rupert Sheldrake engaged in a live debate regarding the evidence for telepathy. It took place at the Royal Society of Arts in London.
In the late 1960s Wolpert proposed the illustrative French flag model, which explains how signalling between cells early in morphogenesis could be used to inform cells with the same Genetic regulatory network of their position and role.
He is credited with the famous quote: "It is not birth, marriage, or death, but gastrulation which is truly the most important time in your life."
An early book was The Unnatural Nature of Science. His most recent book is Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
In May 2008, he gave one of four plenary lectures at the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology in Sigtuna, Sweden. His talk was reported as follows:
Lewis Wolpert's plenary address entitled "The Origins of Science and Religion" was provocative, amusing and from a totally materialist perspective. In his view, religion arose from the uniquely human need for causal explanations, and neither religion nor philosophy contributed anything of importance to scientific undersanding. ... ESSSAT is to be congratulated for offering its platform to a strong-minded materialist, but in the end Wolpert proved unable to enter serious debate with the conference theme or its participants.
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Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 17, 2014
Deeply disappointing book by a very annoying author whose only real insight is that the stages of human life are: 1) Infancy 2) Adolescence 3)Active adulthood 4) Active retirement 5) "you are looking very well said to you in a loud voice as if you are complete fucking idiot". Other than that like his book on depression I thought how little I would like to spend even a moment in his company which is my criteria these days for authors and their characters.
December 2, 2011
This is a very interesting read by a distinguished developmental biologist and octagenarian who has spent his career studying embryonic development but in this book turns his attention to the mechanics and psychology of ageing. He takles issues from ageism in the health care system, the care and wellbeing of the ageing society, to discrimination of older people by governments and society and to why we age, which he descibes as being '...because of wear and tear...ageing results from an accumulation of cellular damage and the limitations in the cell's ability to repair the damage, particularly in our DNA and proteins, and so restore normal function to the cell.'
Wolpert begins each chapter with a quote from people through history on the different aspects of ageing like this one from Groucho Marx ' Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough.' and each chapter looks at a different aspect of ageing. Far from being a negative and depressing look at ageing, Wolpert's book offers many positive aspects of getting older. The main message I got from it is that if you want to age well you need a positive outlook on life, you need to keep active both physically and mentally, you need to be well educated and you need to be wealthy!
Wolpert begins each chapter with a quote from people through history on the different aspects of ageing like this one from Groucho Marx ' Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough.' and each chapter looks at a different aspect of ageing. Far from being a negative and depressing look at ageing, Wolpert's book offers many positive aspects of getting older. The main message I got from it is that if you want to age well you need a positive outlook on life, you need to keep active both physically and mentally, you need to be well educated and you need to be wealthy!
November 23, 2012
A bit repetitive and nothing very new. I learned something about cells and what happens as we age, that no-one dies of old age (banned now on death certificates in the US) or actually wears out, and that the proportion of life expectancy down to genetic influence is low. But very little about the lived experience of being old(er).
January 30, 2021
El libro no me gustó porque no cumplió lo que prometía. Con esta obra esperaba encontrarme un tratado sobre los procesos biológicos que dan paso al envejecimiento. Sin embargo, es un libro donde poco y nada se habla de este tópico, la mayoría de los capítulos giran en torno a reflexiones que han tenido filósofos y escritores a a lo largo de la historia. Los capítulos más aburridos giran entorno a estadísticas relacionadas con este proceso. No está mal escrito pero en conclusión, no me agrado.
January 8, 2023
Good coverage. Easy to read.
March 24, 2013
This was an interesting book, although already slightly outdated in terms of statistics and government action regarding older adults. I did not find much it had to say about the nature of getting old surprising, but it is possible that I have an atypical level of knowledge on that. This was not the book I hoped it would be from its blurb, but still worth a look.
December 4, 2016
Ironically(?), this book is rather like being cornered at a family party by your elderly uncle who actually knows a lot of interesting things but has an unfortunate tendency to get lost in long tangents and random anecdotes.
November 29, 2015
Bitterly disappointing: repetitive, boring, depressing. I do not believe this can have been edited, copy-edited nor proof-read, it is such a mess.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews