Stephen Cave holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Cambridge University and, before turning to full-time writing, worked as a diplomat. He writes regularly for the Financial Times and also contributes to the New York Times.
“Informed and metaphysically nuanced…Cave presents his arguments in
a brisk, engaging style, and draws effectively upon a wide-ranging
stock of religious, philosophical, and scientific sources, both
ancient and contemporary.”
--Weekly Standard
“In his survey of the subject, Stephen Cave, a British philosopher,
argues that man’s various tales of immortality can be boiled down
into four basic “narratives”… For the aspiring undying, Mr Cave
unfortunately concludes that immortality is a mirage. But his
demolition project is fascinating in its own right…If anything,
readers might want more of Mr. Cave’s crisp conversational
prose.”
--The Economist
“A must-read exploration of what spurs human ingenuity. Every
once in a while a book comes along that catches me by surprise and
provides me with an entirely new lens through which to view the
world…Such is the case with Stephen Cave’s book Immortality…Cave
presents an extremely compelling case – one that has changed my
view of the driving force of civilization as much as Jared Diamond
did years ago with his brilliant book Guns, Germs and Steel.”
--S. Jay Olshanksy, New Scientist magazine
"Cave explains how the seeking of immortality is the foundation of
human achievement, the wellspring of art, religion and
civilization...The author is rangy and recondite, searching the
byways of elixirs, the surprises of alchemy, the faith in
engineering and all the wonder to be found in discussions of life
and death...Luminous."
--Kirkus Reviews
“A dramatic and frequently surprising story of the pursuit of
immortality and its effects on human history.”
--Booklist
“A beautifully clear and entertaining look at life after death.
Cave does not shrink from the hard questions. Bold and
thought-provoking.”
—Eric Olson, author of The Human Animal and What Are We?
“Immortality plumbs the depths of the human mind and ties the quest
for the infinite prolongation of life into the very nature of
civilization itself. Cave reveals remarkable depth and breadth of
learning, yet is always a breeze to read. I thoroughly enjoyed his
book—it’s a really intriguing study.”
—David Boyd Haycock, author of Mortal Coil and A Crisis of
Brilliance
“I loved this. Cave has set himself an enormous task and
accomplished it—in spades. Establishing a four-level subject
matter, he has stuck to his guns and never let up. As he left one
level and went to the next, I was always a little worried: Would he
be able to pull it off? This was especially true as he approached
the end. There is a sense in which each level, as he left it
smoking in the road, looked easy as he started the next. In fact,
the last level, while it is the most difficult, is the best, the
most satisfying. I am happy to live in the world Cave
describes.”
— Charles Van Doren, author of A History of Knowledge
“Cave is smart, lucid, elegant and original. Immortality is an
engaging read about our oldest obsession, and how that obsession
propels some of our greatest accomplishments.”
—Greg Critser, author of Eternity Soup
“In Immortality Stephen Cave tells wonderful stories about one of
humanity’s oldest desires and comes to a wise conclusion.”
— Stefan Klein, author of The Science of Happiness and The Secret
Pulse of Time
“Cave has produced a strikingly original and compelling exploration
of the age-old conundrum: Can we live forever, and do we really
want to?”
—John Horgan, science journalist and author of The End of War
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