Medical doctor and economist Christopher Murray began the Global Burden of Disease studies to gain a truer understanding of how we live and how we die. Murray 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 how people live and die, we cannot understand what makes us sick or do much to improve it. In Epic Measures, journalist Jeremy N. Smith offers an intimate look at Murray and his groundbreaking work.