"The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
“Phenomenal cosmic powers ... Itty bitty living space.”
-The Genie
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I remember sitting in high school Biology class and matching names to all the organelles in a cell: the nucleus, mitochondria, ribosome, etc. It was DREADFUL. But it was dreadful because I didn’t get any of it.* Either I was too focused on boys, or my Biology teacher needed to pump up these lessons because I couldn’t put down this 500 page book on cells.
How did I come across this book? Well, other than it being nominated for Goodreads' Best of Nonfiction in 2022, I’ve read another of Siddhartha Mukherjee’s books: “The Gene: An Intimate History”. That one was incredible, but I like “The Song of the Cell” more. This isn’t a textbook. I admit there is a lot of science jargon, but it’s not over-whelming (it may help if you remember some of the terms from high school). This is also a book on scientific histories, a personal journey, and the future of medicine.
If I haven’t emphasized it enough - this book is SO GOOD. I learned so much and was even excited about it enough, that I (unfortunately for my friends) ended up talking how heart and muscle cells function in our bodies at dinner the other night.
“Yeah, boyfriend is great… but aren’t you curious how your heart cells get your heart to pump??”
Not only do you learn about function, but also how the knowledge is applied to research and current (and possibly future) medicine. Then like a cherry on top, Siddhartha writes about his personal experiences and journey throughout the book. As an amateur poet, I appreciated the poetry references in every chapter. It really helped break up the book to prevent it from turning into another high school Biology class. Thanks Siddhartha!
*A lesson learned later in life: if I hate something, it’s likely because I don’t understand it.
| Pub Date: | October 25, 2022 | Page Count: | 496 Pages | ISBN: | 9781982117351 |