In The Lives of a Cell, Dr. Thomas opens up to the listener a universe of knowledge and perception that is perhaps not wholly unfamiliar to the research scientist; but the world he explores is one of men and women too, a world of complex interrelationships, old ironies, peculiar powers, and intricate languages that give identity to the alienated, direction to the dependent.

The Lives of a Cell offers a subtle, bold vision of humankind and the world around us—a sense of what gives life—from a writer who seems to draw grace and strength from the very substance of his subject, a man of wit and imagination who takes pleasure in and gives meaning to nearly everything he beholds.