A New York Times Notable Book of 2013
When the woman he loved was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, George Johnson set out to learn everything he could about the disease and the people who spend their careers trying to understand and to fight it. What he discovered is a revolution under way—an explosion of new ideas about what cancer really is and where it comes from.
When the woman he loved was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, George Johnson set out to learn everything he could about the disease and the people who spend their careers trying to understand and to fight it. What he discovered is a revolution under way—an explosion of new ideas about what cancer really is and where it comes from.
Deftly excavating and
illuminating decades of investigation and analysis, rooted in every
discipline from evolutionary biology to game theory and physics, Johnson
explores what we know—and what we still don't—about cancer, and why a
cure remains such a slippery goal. Throughout his pursuit, Johnson
clarifies the human experience of cancer with grace, bearing witness to
the punishing gauntlet of consultations, surgeries, targeted therapies,
and other treatments. Through Johnson’s radiant prose and authoritative
perspective on science, he takes us on an adventure through the history
and recent advances in cancer research that will challenge everything
you thought you knew about the disease.
