The Lives of a Cell

          In The Lives of a Cell, Lewis Thomas gives a fun and interesting spin on the world of biology. Through analogies and metaphors, the author connects man to nature in a very though provoking way. He begins by stating that we have been trying to detach from nature in recent years. He then continues to provide several examples of certain cells, revealing that without them, we are nothing. Take the mitochondria for example: without them, we wouldn't be able to eat, sleep, move, or even think! Considering the scientific content, as readers, we might not buy into what the author is revealing because, well, he is an author, and biology is probably not his forte. However, he was a graduate of Princeton University, and also Harvard Medical School. That certainly gives him credibility relating to the content. In the year of 1971, which was when the essay was written, biology wasn't much of a norm in society. However, through his findings, research, and essays, he opened up a whole new world, and stimulated others to enter the field. This further displays the purpose of his essay, which was to inform the uneducated public about the wonders of cells and how the function in the human body. He then goes on to connect humans to nature, arguing that Earth is most like a single cell. To get this point across, Lewis Thomas uses metaphor as a rhetorical device. During the last paragraph, he starts of by stating, "I have been trying to think of the earth as a kind of organism," (pg. 360). Then he later makes his argument by saying that the earth is most like a single cell. This helps to deliver his purpose and his argument because through his research, we as readers are then able to connect that human interactions on Earth are similar to those, such as the mitochondria, in a single felled organism.

Caption: One of the overall messages in Thomas' works was that humans cannot separate themselves from nature because, like the earth, we are very complex consisting on of many working parts. He goes on to state that, ""Man is embedded in nature" (pg. 358).

Title: We Are The World

Source: Eric Yahnker