After reading another reviewer's complaints about the author's treatment of the biology of aging, I went back and reread that section. I think I have become so accustomed to "reading around" such wording in evolutionary writing that I didn't even notice it until I looked for it. Sure enough, the author does sound as if he is making group selection arguments, but I don't think that is what he means. I think he is just being a bit sloppy with his language. If the Hayflick limit offers no insights into organismal aging, as the earlier reviewer claims, it nonetheless is a curious observation that average species lifespan correlates closely with the allowable number of cell divisions for the species. As a non-biologist scientist, I found the book a fascinating update to my highschool biology course (ancient history).While it gives a clear explication of the workings of the cell, it is written engagingly and simply enough that I am having my middle school children read it as an introduction to biology before they take it in high school. A book this size and at the level it is written obviously can't do justice to the full depth and breadth of cellular biology and biochemistry, but it does provide a sound introduction and certainly whets the appetite of the scientifically inclined.

This has to be one of the best science books I've ever read. I've always been put off by cell biology which seem masses of unrelated disconnected facts. This book puts it all together, covering both the science we know and the experimental techniques we used to learn it. Of the many books I read each year, about five get to stay in my library while the rest are tossed. This book easily makes that cut.

I must compliment the oxymoronically titled "trueskeptic" (I think "trueseptic" would be more appropriate) for a wonderful review. I doubt I will enjoy the book half as much as the entertaining, but a little amateurish, exercise in rhetoric. One can practically imagine trueskeptic rubbing his/her hands together in glee, thinking, "I will use their jargon against them!" It is interesting hearing masturbatory statements like "But the further one reads, the more the skeptical mind is inclined to question, "How," "When," and "Why"." This statement is meant to show that our hard-line skeptic/scientific mind in question (cough, cough) objects to being presented the theory of evolution without hardcore support for all positions. This leads one to wonder why our favorite fiery sword of reason is reading what is essentially a popularization of science, instead of a hardcore graduate level exposition of the "how", "when", and "why" evidence for evolution. My humble guess, based on the reviewers previous reading (Darwin's Black Box), is that the reviewer is not quite up to par with that level of scientific reading, and instead bases their reasoning on appeals to authority (Darwin's Black Box, a book that is, to say the least, without a spotless scientific reputation) and sad attempts to pass himself/herself as some sort of skeptical authority.

An extremely well written book introducing the average reader to what science is with an inspiring definition followed by a compact description of the major scientific theories with references to more detailed explanations that make up the bulk of the book. The terms frequently used in popular articles on scientific research are listed and explained with clarity of expression. The content is very well organised with cross-references to related topics integrating coverage of the major discoveries throughout the history of science, including short bibliographies of the most important scientists and their contributions, to make for captivating reading.

I read it to refresh my science knowledge and found that the elegant combination of historical perspective and technical lucidity made this book a joy to read and very enlightening. Would that all science writing be done that way! It would make an excellent reference book.

This book was a great find and makes a great gift. In this book are all the basics for those non-scientists among us (and who isn't?).

I idly picked up this book expecting it to be a member of the disgusting clan of "Thirteen dimension string theory in a week for the totally clueless." Instead it is a fascinating overview of biological science, complete with humor, history and wonderful imagery. It makes you wonder why biology is not one of the hottest conversation topics around, once you begin to appreciate the complexity of living organisms. It contains more facts than the average popular science book and is wonderfully written. While you're reading this one, check out his "Life Itself," which goes into great and fascinating detail on the cell.

Rarely does a book live up to the back cover blurb or in this case the title. Rensberger crammed tons of micro facts into 200 pages. He uses metaphors like "wolf in sheep's clothing" to explain how virus trick their way into human cells. He explains that in AIDS transmission the retrovirus is given a free ticket into the DNA of the T-cell.

This book covers the essentials of biology in abbreviated fashion, showing the food webs that link all minerals, plants and animals together. Plants can store energy in the form of fat for later use or animals can digest that fat for their use-it doesn't matter-one life is like another. He tells how all life is solar powered (except for the deep sea archaea). The book takes many of the mysteries out of living cells, asserting that cell replication is but a reaction of chemical shape shifting, and explains in detail how DNA/RNA does its thing to produce proteins.

The overall picture I got from the book was of a human creature designed to shape the assembly of all the pieces that make up itself. Pick your metaphor, Boyce says, hand in glove, lock and key, wrench and nut or lego blocks-nothing would transpire in the cell, maintenance or replication, if the shape of the proteins did not fit together. Some of the facts were amazing: that all life, plant and animal uses the same genetic code in codifying its past structure. The former bacteria, mitochondrion, "is like a universal battery that fits all devices within a cell." Cellular membranes are constructed of shapes like heads and tails-one end liking water and one end hating water-similar to the tropism of plant leaves seeking sunlight. What one learns from reading this book is that our conscious self is but a driver of one's car-like body, knowing little of what is constantly occurring under the hood.

For [money] you'll have a hard time finding a better intro to Biology. The illustrations are great, it goes into surprising depth in a wide variety of subjects with amazing clarity. How this book does not have 5 stars needs explanation. Look at the other reviews... see the one about evolution not being true. There you go :) .