The Lives of a Cell by Lewis ThomasThe Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biological Observer by Lewis Thomas consists of short, insightful essays that offer the reader a different perspective on the world and ourselves. The book takes its name from the first essay, "The Life of a Cell," in which Thomas offers his observations on ecology and the role of cellular activity. He writes that "the uniformity of earth's life, more striking than its diversity, is due to the high probability that we arose, originally, from some single cell, fertilized by lightning as the earth cooled" (3). he goes on to describe how this common ancestry means that we still have much in common with everything on this planet. Thomas says that "we still share genes around, and the similarity of grass enzymes to those of whales is a family resemblance" (3). Thomas tells the reader that he tried to conceive of the earth itself as a type of organism, "but it was not possible" (4). The earth is simply too big, too complex for such an analogy. But then it occurred to him. The earth is more like a single cell (4). In the next essay, “Thoughts for a Countdown,” Thomas further discusses how all cellular life on this planet is interconnected and similar. He discusses the custom prevalent during the Apollo program that astronauts returning from space would be placed in isolation while wearing surgical masks. The implication is, of course, that the astronauts may have brought a strange virus with them. Thomas says the entire notion is built on a faulty understanding of science and biology. He points out that most associations on this planet between living things are cooperative (5). "It takes a long intimacy, a long and familiar coexistence, before one king of a creature can cause illness in another" (6). If there were something microscopic living on the Moon, it would experience "a solitary period waiting to be accepted as a member" (6). In the next essay, "On Societies as Organisms," Thomas points out that authors of books on insect behavior go to great lengths to distinguish the uniqueness of insect life.