World
![Siddhartha Mukherjee - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_siddhartha_mukherjee.jpg)
The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee's revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer's exploration of what it means to be human.
Mukherjee begins this magnificent story in the late 1600s, when a distinguished English polymath, Robert Hooke, and an eccentric Dutch cloth-merchant, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek looked down their handmade microscopes. What they saw introduced a radical concept that swept through biology and medicine, touching virtually every aspect of the two sciences, and altering both forever. It was the fact that complex living organisms are assemblages of tiny, self-contained, self-regulating units. Our organs, our physiology, our selves-hearts, blood, brains-are built from these compartments. Hooke christened them "cells".
The discovery of cells-and the reframing of the human body as a cellular ecosystem-announced the birth of a new kind of medicine based on the therapeutic manipulations of cells. A hip fracture, a cardiac arrest, Alzheimer's dementia, AIDS, pneumonia, lung cancer, kidney failure, arthritis, COVID pneumonia-all could be reconceived as the results of cells, or systems of cells, functioning abnormally. And all could be perceived as loci of cellular therapies.
In The Song of the Cell, Mukherjee tells the story of how scientists discovered cells, began to understand them, and are now using that knowledge to create new humans. He seduces you with writing so vivid, lucid, and suspenseful that complex science becomes thrilling. Told in six parts, laced with Mukherjee's own experience as a researcher, a doctor, and a prolific reader, The Song of the Cell is both panoramic and intimate-a masterpiece.
Mukherjee begins this magnificent story in the late 1600s, when a distinguished English polymath, Robert Hooke, and an eccentric Dutch cloth-merchant, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek looked down their handmade microscopes. What they saw introduced a radical concept that swept through biology and medicine, touching virtually every aspect of the two sciences, and altering both forever. It was the fact that complex living organisms are assemblages of tiny, self-contained, self-regulating units. Our organs, our physiology, our selves-hearts, blood, brains-are built from these compartments. Hooke christened them "cells".
The discovery of cells-and the reframing of the human body as a cellular ecosystem-announced the birth of a new kind of medicine based on the therapeutic manipulations of cells. A hip fracture, a cardiac arrest, Alzheimer's dementia, AIDS, pneumonia, lung cancer, kidney failure, arthritis, COVID pneumonia-all could be reconceived as the results of cells, or systems of cells, functioning abnormally. And all could be perceived as loci of cellular therapies.
In The Song of the Cell, Mukherjee tells the story of how scientists discovered cells, began to understand them, and are now using that knowledge to create new humans. He seduces you with writing so vivid, lucid, and suspenseful that complex science becomes thrilling. Told in six parts, laced with Mukherjee's own experience as a researcher, a doctor, and a prolific reader, The Song of the Cell is both panoramic and intimate-a masterpiece.
Editorial Reviews
Praise for Song of the Cell
"Siddhartha Mukherjee, whose 2010 Pulitzer-winning biography of cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies, vaulted him into Quammen's league, affirms a reputation for accessible science journalism with The Song of the Cell, a history of the building block of life, woven into his career as a doctor. But with a twist - unlike Breathless, you step away hopeful for the future."
-The Chicago Tribune
"Tying together what might otherwise be a disjointed narrative, Mukherjee frequently invokes the patient's journey. We hear their voices throughout, reminding the reader that however great our knowledge, there is still much to learn. . . . A great read with which it is hard not to hum along."
-Marie Vodicka, Science
"An extraordinarily gifted storyteller… The author's ideas about the near future of medicine (one in which medicine will "perhaps even create synthetic versions of cells, and parts of humans") are both convincing and inspiring, and woven throughout his narrative are accessible explanations of cell biology and immunology. This is another winner from Mukherjee."
-Publishers Weekly, *STARRED REVIEW*
"Mukherjee, a physician, professor of medicine, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author (The Emperor of All Maladies), has a knack for explaining difficult ideas in terms that are both straightforward and interesting... A luminous journey into cellular biology... Another outstanding addition to the author's oeuvre, which we hope will continue to grow for years to come."
-Kirkus, *STARRED REVIEW*
"Mukherjee's coverage of early efforts at bone marrow transplantation is heart-tugging. A discussion of stem cells is first-rate… In all, this is a distinctive ode to cells-their structure and function, commonalities, diversities, interconnectedness, and limitless possibilities-infused with a sense of wonder and humanity."
-Booklist
"In...
"Siddhartha Mukherjee, whose 2010 Pulitzer-winning biography of cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies, vaulted him into Quammen's league, affirms a reputation for accessible science journalism with The Song of the Cell, a history of the building block of life, woven into his career as a doctor. But with a twist - unlike Breathless, you step away hopeful for the future."
-The Chicago Tribune
"Tying together what might otherwise be a disjointed narrative, Mukherjee frequently invokes the patient's journey. We hear their voices throughout, reminding the reader that however great our knowledge, there is still much to learn. . . . A great read with which it is hard not to hum along."
-Marie Vodicka, Science
"An extraordinarily gifted storyteller… The author's ideas about the near future of medicine (one in which medicine will "perhaps even create synthetic versions of cells, and parts of humans") are both convincing and inspiring, and woven throughout his narrative are accessible explanations of cell biology and immunology. This is another winner from Mukherjee."
-Publishers Weekly, *STARRED REVIEW*
"Mukherjee, a physician, professor of medicine, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author (The Emperor of All Maladies), has a knack for explaining difficult ideas in terms that are both straightforward and interesting... A luminous journey into cellular biology... Another outstanding addition to the author's oeuvre, which we hope will continue to grow for years to come."
-Kirkus, *STARRED REVIEW*
"Mukherjee's coverage of early efforts at bone marrow transplantation is heart-tugging. A discussion of stem cells is first-rate… In all, this is a distinctive ode to cells-their structure and function, commonalities, diversities, interconnectedness, and limitless possibilities-infused with a sense of wonder and humanity."
-Booklist
"In...
