Genetic engineering. Bulding blocks of life. Selfish genes. These phrases, after all, are all imaginative metaphors. We are encouraged to think that the language of science opposes myth, but does it?

Mary Midgley argues in this powerful book that far from being the opposite of science, myth is a central part of it. She argues that myths are neither lies nor mere stories but a network of powerful symbols that suggest particular ways of interpreting the world.

As a consideration on why we are more than the sum of our molecules, The Myths we Live By is useful reading for anyone concerned about how we should understand the world in the 21st century.