Synopses & Reviews
Moneyball meets medicine in this remarkable chronicle of one of the greatest scientific quests of our time — the groundbreaking program to answer the most essential question for humanity: how do we live and die? — and the visionary mastermind behind it.
Medical doctor and economist Christopher Murray began the Global Burden of Disease studies to gain a truer understanding of how we live and how we die. While it is one of the largest scientific projects ever attempted — as breathtaking as the first moon landing or the Human Genome Project — the questions it answers are meaningful for every one of us: What are the world's health problems? Who do they hurt? How much? Where? Why?
Murray argues that the ideal existence isn't simply the longest but the one lived well and with the least illness. Until we can accurately measure how people live and die, we cannot understand what makes us sick or do much to improve it. Challenging the accepted wisdom of the WHO and the UN, the charismatic and controversial health maverick has made enemies — and some influential friends, including Bill Gates who gave Murray a $100 million grant.
In Epic Measures, journalist Jeremy N. Smith offers an intimate look at Murray and his groundbreaking work. From ranking countries' healthcare systems (the U.S. is 37th) to unearthing the shocking reality that world governments are funding developing countries at only 30% of the potential maximum efficiency when it comes to health, Epic Measures introduces a visionary leader whose unwavering determination to improve global health standards has already changed the way the world addresses issues of health and wellness, sets policy, and distributes funding.
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“A fascinating account of a charismatic visionary who successfully battles the convoluted politics of international health bureaucracies.” Kirkus Reviews
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“Jeremy Smith's engaging story of a man obsessed with the numbers, and the mortal dramas they tell, reads like a novel and is better than any textbook or survey of this planets health.” Paul Farmer, Co-Founder of Partners In Health and Co-Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School
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“Jeremy Smith tells an inspiring story of how a simple idea, conceived logically and pursued with grit, can greatly improve the human condition.” Edward O. Wilson, University Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
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“This book is a crash course in global health mixed with a thriller and a biography. And my goodness, what a made-for-Hollywood character at its core a brilliant but bristly scientist out to revolutionize the way we conceive healthcare.” A. J. Jacobs, author of Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically
About the Author
Jeremy N. Smith has written for Discover, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Chicago Tribune, among many other publications. His first book, Growing a Garden City, was one of Booklist's top ten books on the environment for 2011. Born and raised in Evanston, Illinois, he is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Montana. He lives in Missoula, Montana, with his wife and young daughter.