Elegant, suggestive, and clarifying, Lewis Thomas's profoundly humane vision explores the world around us and examines the complex interdependence of all things

"The difficulty of reconciling chemical mechanisms with the functions of whole living systems has plagued biologists since the development of cell theory in the

This book challenges the current wisdom of how cells work. It emphasizes the role of cell water and the gel-like nature of the cell, building on these features