Middle Age: A Natural History - Softcover

Bainbridge, David

3.36

78 ratings by Goodreads

9781846272677: Middle Age: A Natural History

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184627267X ISBN 13: 9781846272677

Publisher: Portobello Books Ltd, 2012

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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.

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About the Author:

DAVID BAINBRIDGE was trained in veterinary surgery and zoology at Cambridge University, where he now teaches Clinical Veterinary Anatomy. He is the author of four previous books: on pregnancy, on the biology of sex and sexuality, on the brain, and most recently Teenagers (Portobello, 2009).www.davidbainbridge.org

Review:

A welcome corrective to the widely held notion that being middle aged is ghastly - India Knight, Sunday Times
David Bainbridge is the best kind of writer on this subject; reassuring without being woolly and articulate without being incomprehensible. You won't get any less middle-aged reading this book, but you'll feel better about it - David Quantick
Bainbridge's zoological examination of the human animal results in a study that is full of surprises... Heartening - James McConnachie, Sunday Times
Thought-provoking. [It] should certainly shed some new light on one's own potbellied or menopausal mid-life crisis... Fascinating - Katie Law, Evening Standard
There's lots of good news for the middle aged... A very jolly book with clear scientific explanations - William Leith, Telegraph
Looking beyond the clich�s, veterinary surgeon and reproductive biologist David Bainbridge, who teaches at Cambridge, sets out to discover "what middle age is and what it is for". Most of us could have a pretty good stab at the first question, but the latter is where Middle Age gets interesting.. Bainbridge's answer lies in the size of the brain and our need for food and ideas with which to feed it ... a fascinating idea - Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times

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