For humankind the most irreducible idea is the concept of life itself. In order to understand
that life is essentially an infinite process transmitted from generation to generation this
book takes the reader on a fascinating journey that unravels one of our greatest mysteries. It
begins with the premise that life is a fact-that it is everywhere that it takes infinite forms
and most importantly that it is intrinsically self-perpetuating. Rather than exploring how
the first living forms emerged in our universe the book begins with our first primordial
ancestor cell and tells the story of life-how it began when that first cell diversified into
many other cell types and organisms and how it has continued until the present day. On this
journey the author covers the fundaments of biology such as cell division diversity
regeneration repair and death. The rather fictional epilogue even goes one step further and
discusses ways how to literally escape the problem of limited recourse and distribution on our
planet by looking at life outside the solar system. This book is designed to explain complex
ideas in biology simply but not simplistically with a special emphasis on plain and
accessible language as well as a wealth of hand-drawn illustrations. Thus it is suitable not
only for students seeking for an introduction into biological concepts and terminology but for
everyone with an interest in the fundamentals of life at the crossroad of evolutionary and cell
biology.
