Introduction

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 throughout the seas and then, over millions of years, across the lands to create the complex living forms populating the planet today.

Questions and Exploration

Yet, how has such a minute organism been so powerful? What has enabled it both to create and break down life on earth over billions of years? And, how have cells interacted to create an extraordinary diversity of plant, aquatic, terrestrial, and avian life?

Author's Focus

Here, Jack Challoner shines a spotlight on the passage of the cell through time to explore how a continual myriad of interactions and symbiotic relationships have been, and continue to be, the extraordinary catalyst for life.