The Cell: A Visual Tour of the Building Block of Life

The microscopic cell is Earth’s greatest success story, and the common ancestor we share with all other organisms. Formed over three and a half billion years ago, life exploded from this minuscule powerhouse, first in the sea and then, over millions of years, across the land to create the complex living forms populating the planet today.

How has such a minute organism been so powerful? What has enabled it both to create and to break down life on Earth over billions of years? And how have cells interacted to create such an extraordinary diversity of life? Here, Jack Challoner shines a spotlight on the story of the cell to explore how a myriad of interactions and symbiotic relationships have been the extraordinary catalyst for life.

Jack Challoner graduated in physics at Imperial College, London University, and worked in the education unit at London's Science Museum before launching a career as an author specializing in science and technology. He has written more than 40 books, including The Story of Science (2012) and Real Lives: John Snow (2013). He has also developed television programmes for the BBC and acted as a scientific consultant on numerous books and articles.