Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher
I picked up this book
expecting it to be a sort-of story book about cells. What
i didn't realize is that it is a compilation of essays
written in the New England Journal of Medicine between
the years of '71 and '73 by Lewis Thomas (who I have no
professional knowledge of). Each chapter is a different
essay written halfway between prose and poetry that
appeared in an edition of the NEJM. Seemingly unrelated,
each chapter brings the world of the cell into tangible
sensations and visions, having them being anthropomorphic
and shown some semblance of organized action, such as the
human race has on the planet Earth.
One one of the most striking chapters was on the topic of
sound, not language. Showing that even in its simplest
form, cells, plants, even termites make sounds, that may
have nothing to do with conveyance of information, but
have much to do with their interaction with the world.
Another grand chapter likened humans to cells and the
earth to an organism. Lewis basically said that it was
the job of the planet to sprout life in order to bring
that life elsewhere and basically spread 'our' Earth
(genetics) to other places and maybe combat others who
were spreading 'their Earth' across the cosmos.
This is definitely not a book that one should read in one
sitting. It is meant to be picked up every so often, in
an odd mood, with a cup of Earl Grey or Chamomile and
read for pleasure and mind expansion, not for
trailblazing speed reading.