The Life of a Cell by Lewis ThomasThe Life of a Cell: Notes of a Biology 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 life on Earth, more astonishing than its diversity, is explained by the high probability that we originated, originally, from a single cell, fertilized by a lightning bolt when the earth was formed. was cooling” (3). goes on to describe how this common ancestry means we still have a lot in common with everything else on this planet. Thomas says that “we still share genes, and the resemblance of grass enzymes to those of whales is a family resemblance” (3). Thomas tells the reader that he has tried to conceive of the Earth itself as a type of organism, "but it is not possible" (4). The Earth is simply too big and too complex for such an analogy. But then it came to him. The Earth most closely resembles a single cell (4). In the following essay, “Thoughts for a Countdown,” Thomas explains in more detail how all cellular life on this planet is interconnected and similar. He discusses the custom throughout the Apollo program in which astronauts returning from space would be placed in isolation while wearing surgical masks. The implication is, of course, that the astronauts may have brought along a strange virus. Thomas says this whole notion is based on a flawed understanding of science and biology. He emphasizes that most associations between living beings on this planet are cooperative (5). “It takes a long intimacy, a long and familiar encounter, before one king of creatures can cause illness to another” (6). If there were something microscopic living on the Moon, it would be spending "a lonely time waiting to be accepted as a member here" (6). In the following 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.