The jaw-dropping complexity and sheer cleverness of cells is
beyond the imagination of anyone who has not specialised in the rapidly growing
field of cell biology, and the pace and tone of Lewis Wolpert’s book How We Live and Why We Die: The Secret Lives
of Cells reflect this. As a reader one cannot fail to be immediately
awestruck by the sense of scale conveyed by Wolpert’s writing style, and the
passion he has for the subject is apparent throughout the book.
The volume has fourteen chapters, each of which address a
different aspect of how the workings of cells give rise to the phenomenon of
life. Some rather advanced concepts such as development and cell signalling are
discussed in a light-hearted, accessible manner. Wolpert often uses a humorous,
anecdotal style, such as when recounting the bizarre etymology of the gene Sonic hedgehog: the biologist who named
the gene did so after one of his son’s computer games due to the fact that a
mutation in the gene causes fly larvae to have “a hedgehoggy appearance”.
Analogies are also used in places – for example, positional values are
explained with reference to the French flag.
Chapters towards the end of the book focus on the causes of
cancer and other diseases on the cellular level, and are highly informative on
these more sensitive topics. There is finally a chapter on the evolution of the
very first cells, that is to say, the origin of life on Earth, and describes
several theories to address this ultimate question, including the Miller-Urey experiment
and the RNA World hypothesis.
As an introduction to the exciting area of cell biology,
this book more than fits the bill: I found it to be a highly enjoyable read as
well as packing a lot of information and presenting it in a fashion which
allows the book to be read by those with little previous knowledge of biology.
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