Accessible if disquieting ... The author seems almost apologetic for the decidedly dismal message she carries ... Perhaps to spare readers even more dismay, she reserves her critical scrutiny for cells, chronicling their nasty competitive struggles in vivid detail, while largely overlooking these same inconvenient realities in science. Here, she tends to describe a largely peaceable kingdom populated by earnest researchers thoughtfully pursuing nature’s questions in a collaborative environment of inquiry and wonder. Like Virchow’s vision of a cellular republic, it’s a charming ideal.