Book: Sex & the Origins of Death by William R. Clark

Hardback, 1996, 190 pages. Excellent used condition. No yellowing, no marks, no tears, no dog-ears. There's the tiniest bit of scuffing on the dust cover from being shelved, otherwise this looks like new. I'm pretty dumbfounded tbh; it was quite a surprise while taking photos to learn this copy is nearly 30 years old! "Death, for bacteria, is not inevitable. Protect a bacterium from predators, and provide it with adequate food and space to grow, and it would continue living--and reproducing asexually--forever. But a paramecium (a slightly more advanced single-cell organism) under the same ideal conditions would stop dividing after about 200 generations--and die. Death for paramecia and their offspring is inevitable.... Unless they have sex. Then their clock will reset to zero. They and their progeny are granted another 200 generations. Immortality for bacteria is automatic; for all other living beings--including humans--death is inevitable. But why? William R. Clark looks at life and death at the level of the cell, as he addresses such profound questions as why we age, why death exists, and why death and sex go hand in hand."