Book review - EXTRA LIFE: A Short History of Living Longer

By Dilip -

Until a couple of centuries ago, more than a quarter of children died before their first birthday, around half before their fifth. In “Extra Life,” Steven Johnson, a writer of popular books on science and technology, tells the stories behind what he calls, in an understatement, “one of the greatest achievements in the history of our species.” 

Steven Johnson: A Short History of Living Longer

Reviewed by Steven Pinker

Starting in the second half of the 19th century, the average life span began to climb rapidly, giving humans not just extra life, but an extra life. In rich countries, life expectancy at birth hit 40 by 1880, 50 by 1900, 60 by 1930, 70 by 1960, and 80 by 2010. The rest of the world is catching up. Global life expectancy in 2019 was 72.6 years, higher than that of any country, rich or poor, in 1950. People in the shortest-lived countries today will, on average, outlive those of your grandparents’ generation.

“Life expectancy” is a statistical abstraction — the average number of years a newborn would live if prevailing mortality rates remained unchanged — and much of its rise was propelled by the sparing of children, whose deaths mix a lot of small numbers into the average. Today, more than 99 percent of children in rich countries survive, and more than 96 percent worldwide. But it’s not just children: People who clear any obstacles in the gantlet of life have been granted more time ahead. In 1950, a person who had reached the age of 70 could look forward to another nine years; today, another 16….

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/books/review/extra-life-steven-johnson.html

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