The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas

First published: 1974

Type of work: Science essays

Form and Content

The Lives of a Cell is a collection of twenty-nine essays originally published in The New England Journal of Medicine between 1971 and 1973. The essays range in length from three to six pages but no more than two thousand words, a limitation imposed by the journal. In these essays, Lewis Thomas explores a variety of biomedical subjects, such as the social and medical implications if it turns out that humans possess pheromones, the role of technology in medical treatment, and the overreaction of the body to the invasion of bacteria. He also discusses issues of anthropology, the use of computers, the sociology of science, and the evolution and development of language. No explanation is provided for the order of the essays. They appear to be placed randomly, but they may be arranged chronologically.

Although written by a biomedical research scientist for a journal whose readership is composed primarily of physicians and biomedical researchers, these essays are not technical discussions of research but philosophical musings or commentaries upon science and medicine. Aside from the use of some technical terminology, the only other indication that Thomas’ original audience was composed of scientists and doctors is the occasional inclusion of reference notes to scientific literature. For eleven of the essays Thomas appended up to as many as ten reference notes.

The Lives of a Cell rests comfortably within the genre of literary science writing. This is a genre which flourished in the nineteenth century but has attracted relatively little attention in the twentieth. It has traditionally provided an opportunity for concerned scientists to express their views about the implications of scientific research for man, the environment, and civilization to audiences other than their professional colleagues. Strictly speaking, this genre is not a popularization of scientific facts and theories for general audiences, although such popularization may be incorporated into the writing.

Thomas’ thoughts are relatively accessible to the nonscientist. They are understandable without detailed knowledge of the biomedical sciences, in part because Thomas relies heavily on the use of analogies to convey his message. He also does not use the traditional impersonal tone and language of technical scientific literature. The most difficult of Thomas’ essays to follow and comprehend have nothing to do with the fields of either biology or medicine. They are the essays dealing with the derivation of words, a topic which is his hobby.

Critical Context

Because the art of writing literary expositions of scientific information has had few practitioners in the twentieth century, Thomas’ appearance on the literary scene provided some confusion in the ranks of the judges for the National Book Award in 1975. He was nominated by both the arts-and-letters and the sciences panels, an indication of how he straddles the boundary between the two. Ultimately, he received the award from the arts-and-letters panel.

It is not clear what sort of long-term impact will result from Thomas’ success with The Lives of a Cell. The book proved to be the first of a number of collections of his essays and autobiographical material to be published, each developing and expanding upon the themes of order in nature, the interconnectedness of all living things, and the problems of the medical system. It is not at all certain, for example, what impact he has had on the health industry in the United States. Perhaps Thomas’ greatest contribution has been to popularize the notion of the philosophical exposition of scientific ideas and theories by members of the scientific community. As a scientist who writes well and interestingly, Thomas has managed to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the public, despite the fact that a lay audience was not his original concern. He presents biomedical and other scientific problems in a manner the public can understand.

In many ways, Thomas’ writings have been complemented by the work of Stephen J. Gould, another scientist-essayist. A paleontologist by training, Gould began providing philosophical and historical musings about science for the magazine Natural History two years after Thomas began publishing his essays. There are two major differences between these writers. First, the concern with issues of medical treatment so evident in Thomas’ pieces is missing in Gould’s writings. Second, Gould is much more interested in the history of science than is Thomas; Gould frequently uses history to illuminate issues in current scientific debates. Other scientists have turned to monographs or even television to place their perspectives toward research before the public. Thomas has made such efforts respectable.

Bibliography

Bernstein, Jeremy. “Lewis Thomas: Life of a Biology Watcher,” in Experiencing Science, 1978.

Hellerstein, David. “The Muse of Medicine,” in Esquire. CI (March, 1984), pp. 72-77.

Lawrence, H. S. “An Appreciation: Notes of a Lewis Thomas-Watcher,” in Cellular Immunology. LXXXII (November, 1983), pp. 3-22.

Memory, J.D. “Lewis Thomas and William James,” in The New England Journal of Medicine. CCCXII (1985), pp. 864-865.

Woodcock, John. “Literature and Science Since Huxley,” in Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. III (1978), pp. 31-45.