Medical doctor and economist Christopher Murray began the Global Burden of Disease study to gain a truer understanding of how we live and how we die. One of the largest scientific projects ever attempted—as breathtaking as the first moon landing or the Human Genome Project—the answers it offers are meaningful for every one of us. Challenging the accepted wisdom of the WHO and the UN, the charismatic and controversial health maverick 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 global health issues, we cannot understand what makes us sick or do much to improve it.

In Epic Measures, acclaimed journalist Jeremy N. Smith chronicles Murray’s lifelong determination to understand how we live and die—an enthralling, awe-inspiring account encompassing wars and famines, presidents and activists, billionaires and billions of people worldwide living in poverty. It shows the human side of scientific revolutions and of revolutionary scientists—their breakthroughs and setbacks, their genius and their flaws, their champions and their critics—as they strive to bring the news of their findings to the world. While this transformational effort is far from over, the story of its genesis and impact is already an epic tale.