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The Secret Lives of Cells
by Lewis Wolpert
Everything about our existence—movement and memory, imagination and reproduction, birth and, ultimately, death—is governed by our cells. They are the basis of all life in the universe, from the tiniest bacteria to the most complex animals. In the tradition of the classic Lives of a Cell, but with the benefit of the latest research, internationally acclaimed embryologist Lewis Wolpert demonstrates how human life derives from a single cell and then grows into a body, an incredibly complex society made up of billions of them. When we age, our cells cannot repair the damage they have undergone; when we get ill, it is because cells are so damaged they stop working and die.
Wolpert examines the science behind topics that are much discussed but rarely understood—stem cell research, cloning, DNA, mutating cancer cells—and explains how all life evolved from just one cell. Lively and passionate, this is an accessible guide to understanding the human body and life itself.
"His range is so great that he has little time to delve beneath the surface of any of the subjects he raises, making this a cursory introduction for the novice in basic cell biology and its implications." - Publishers Weekly
"Despite a somewhat helpful glossary, lay readers would be better served by a generously illustrated textbook." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about How We Live and Why We Die was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lewis Wolpert is Professor Emeritus of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College, London. His books include Six Impossible Things before Breakfast and Malignant Sadness, the basis for a BBC television series.
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