Ideas worth spreading

How humanity doubled life expectancy in a century

2,306,194 views |

Steven Johnson |

TEDMonterey

• August 2021

Doubling human life expectancy in a century is our greatest achievement, says author Steven Johnson. How did we make it happen -- and can we keep it going? Backed by fascinating historical anecdotes, he shares some life-lengthening innovations and reminds us of three key things needed to make sure all of humanity enjoys these advancements in health.

Doubling human life expectancy in a century is our greatest achievement, says author Steven Johnson. How did we make it happen -- and can we keep it going? Backed by fascinating historical anecdotes, he shares some life-lengthening innovations and reminds us of three key things needed to make sure all of humanity enjoys these advancements in health.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Subscribe to Adjacent Possible, a newsletter from Steven Johnson exploring where good ideas come from — and how to keep them from turning against us.

About the speaker

Steven Johnson

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Steven Johnson is a leading authority on innovation and the bestselling author of 13 books about history of health, medicine and technology.

Steven Johnson | Riverhead Books, 2021 | Book

Extra Life: A Short History Of Living Longer

An in-depth look at the social movements, scientific breakthroughs and forgotten heroes who doubled human life expectancy in one century.

Steven Johnson, David Olusoga | PBS/BBC, 2021 | Watch

A four-part PBS/BBC series, cohosted by Steven Johnson and David Olusoga, that traces the history of extending human life in the present-day context of the COVID crisis. (Also available on the BBC iPlayer.)

Steven Johnson | Pulitzer Center, 2021 | Article

"The Living Century"

Lesson plans based on the Extra Life project exploring the causes and impacts of medical innovation on human life expectancy, curated by the Pulitzer Center.

Max Roser, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Hannah Ritchie | Our World in Data, 2019 | Explore

Our World in Data: Life Expectancy

An invaluable source of demographic data, infographics and short essays showing the remarkable scale of the revolution in human life expectancy over the past few centuries.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2021 | Explore

"Life Expectancy: Could where you live influence how long you live?"

An interactive feature that shows average life expectancy in the US by zip code, created by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Subscribe to Adjacent Possible, a newsletter from Steven Johnson exploring where good ideas come from — and how to keep them from turning against us.