How to Live Forever: And 34 Other Really Interesting Uses of Science

by Alok Jha

How to Live Forever is the essential survival guide for anyone who has ever been baffled by science. In a series of intriguing, entertaining and often extraordinary scenarios Alok Jha brings to life 35 key science ideas in a way that anyone can understand. From the microscopic to the cosmic, this book takes you on a glorious tour of the known universe and beyond, taking in cloned sheep, alien worlds, bizarre life forms, quantum weirdness, parallel dimensions and dissected brains along the way. You'll discover how to travel through time, how to start (and cure) a plague, how the mind works, how to turn sunbeams into oak trees, how to boil a planet, how to turn invisible and much, much more. Both informative and enjoyable, this is a rip-roaring introduction to the wonders of modern science.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Kieran Atter · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first gripe is that it contains very little chemistry (the best science!) More importantly, the chapters vary from really easy, 11-year-old level science, up to ridiculously difficult concepts to grasp in 10 short pages. I still have no idea what it was on about with the 11 dimensions of string theory for one. My final issue with this book is the fact that it repeats itself many times. Perhaps some of the chapters could have been merged and made slightly longer?

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, but I am sure I read most of this elsewhere, in Focus magazine or New Scientist or perhaps in another Alok Jha book? I know a lot of the things in here I skipped because it was familiar.

[Joel · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a year of it sitting half-read next to the bed gathering dust I had to give up on this one.

The science in it is interesting, definitely, but I just didn't find its presentation engaging enough to motivate me to come back to it: definitely a personal preference thing.

[Nabilah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by the lack of references and citations. Popular science books should not be missing these.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting as the title.

[Jade Pope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intresting