i The biological clock ii Why dying is beneficial iii The ageing process of men and women iv Prolonging your life v Limitations of life span vi Modes of development of different species vii A stable life span despite improvements viii Energy consumption ix Fundamental differences in ageing of objects and organisms x Repair of genetic material Our ’dead’ products are ’static’, closed systems. It is always the basic material which constitutes the object and which, in the natural course of things, is worn down and becomes ’older’. Ageing in this case must occur according to the laws of physical chemistry and of thermodynamics. Although the same law holds for a living organism, the result of this law is not inexorable in the same way.