How We Live and Why We Die: the secret lives of cells

Lewis Wolpert is an eminent biologist. I only studied biology to O-level GCE (equivalent GCSE standard) and always wished I'd gone further. It is therefore wonderful when a scientist at the top of his or her tree writes for a layperson like me.Lewis Wolpert uses a simple style to explain the very complex life of cells, the building blocks of life. If he'd opted for a more poetic style I think the concepts he's describing would have been incomprehensible to anyone relatively new to the field.48 pages into this book, I know this one is going to be my study for the year, to be taken slowly and digested thoroughly. I already appreciate that cells are of crucial importance and that this book will be fascinating. On a practical level, I'll be taking more care over diet, exercise and sleep in future because these astounding little things, the myriad cells which make up my body, are worth it!One tiny gripe, the odd diagram would have been nice.

After reading all the other reviews I hesitated for some time about buying it. I certainly agree with the main criticism of lack of illustrations, which for this particular subject was a serious omission. I learnt a bit but Davies "Life Unfolding," was far better.

I saw this book reviewed by Robin McKie in the Guardian Weekly - reprinted from The Observer. I am not a graduate scientist, just fascinated by Life. Wolpert is easy to read and precise in his detail. He does not talk down to the reader, and uses the scientific names when appropriate, but sprinkles his descriptions of these subtle and invisible processes with easily understood metaphor.I only had one quibble: he often writes of the hundreds of thousands of different protiens as "engines" taking their fuel from ATP. For me this was one metaphor too far, and remains a mystery.The book has a useful glossary and index, and opens with an interesting account of the progress of research over the centuries.

Daughter bought this for Natural Sciences at Cambridge - hasnt read it yet but looks good!

I am studying for a practictioners course with the NHS and purchased this book as part of the course, good easy reading.

In terms of content, this is an excellent book, but it is badly let down by its lack of drawings or illustrations. A few key drawings or illustrations would improve the book enormously.

Absolutely brilliant! Not too complicated for a non-science background person.

Brilliant book. Incredibly interesting and great to accompany AS/A2 biology as extra reading.

I buy used books a lot. This one was in subpar shape for what I expect in a used book.RIP Lewis

The author, Lewis Wolpert, has managed to explain "the secret lives of Cells"in a way that makes it all understandable for a lay person.Not only does he make the facts clear but the book is written in such away that we - as readers - get the feeling of participating in thefantastic exploration of the cells of which we are all made.Fun, and easy reading, about a very important aspects of our lives.

Wolpert gives an expert's overview of everything we know as humans about our own cells. The book is appropriate for anyone with some vague familiarity with biology looking to get up to speed. However, there are two major flaws with this text. First, there are no pictures, diagrams, or even references to accompany the text. This makes understanding the process of cell division, for example, next to impossible. Second, there are glaring grammatical and basic style errors. I encountered many run-on sentences and sudden changes of topic in the middle of paragraphs. I would have expected better writing from such an acclaimed researcher and presumably reasonable editor! Regardless, I enjoyed reading it and recommend it as a primer for more in depth reading on biology elsewhere.

Fascinating book. You need to know some biology, but you get a good snapshot of how cells function (or don't function). Talk about complex interactions and chemistry. Great digest of just how cells operate.

This book is an excellent resource for biology classes (I am using it with my Biology 2 class). This book teaches cells in a 'real life application' sense. I recommend looking into it and checking out on the web the way other teachers are using it.