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Quote by Lewis Thomas

“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you'd think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise.”

Quote by Lewis Thomas

Book:A Long Line of Cells Collected Essays

Work

A Long Line of Cells Collected Essays

This book is a compilation of essays that delve into the intricate world of cells, examining their role in biological processes and their importance in the study of life sciences. The essays cover a range of topics, from the fundamental functions of cells to their implications in medical research and evolutionary biology. more

Author

Lewis Thomas was a renowned American physician, writer, and scientist. Born on November 25, 1913, and died on December 3, 1993. He was known for his contributions to medicine and scientific writing, serving as the director of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. more

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“We live in a dancing matrix of viruses; they dart, rather like bees, from organism to organism, from plant to insect to mammal to me and back again, and into the sea, tugging along pieces of this genome, strings of genes from that, transplanting grafts of DNA, passing around heredity as though at a great party.”

Party Pieces Sea Dancing Plant Passing Passings Strings Genes Bees Organisms Dna Insects Viruses Back Again Mammals Heredity Genome Tugging Great Party

Book:A Long Line of Cells Collected Essays

Source: A Long Line of Cells Collected Essays

“Sometimes you get a glimpse of a semicolon coming, a few lines farther on, and it is like climbing a steep path through woods and seeing a wooden bench just at a bend in the road ahead, a place where you can expect to sit for a moment, catching your breath.”

Sometimes Moments Language Lines Path Seeing Breaths Woods Climbing Hiking Glimpse Catching Benches Steep Bends In The Road

Book:A Long Line of Cells Collected Essays

Source: A Long Line of Cells Collected Essays

“A multitude of bees can tell the time of day, calculate the geometry of the sun's position, argue about the best location for the next swarm. Bees do a lot of close observing of other bees; maybe they know what follows stinging and do it anyway.”

Knows Next Sun Position Arguing Bees Multitudes Location Observing Geometry Swarms Time Of Day

Book:Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony

Source: Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony

“I maintain, despite the moment's evidence against the claim, that we are born and grow up with a fondness for each other, and we have genes for that. We can be talked out of it, for the genetic message is like a distant music, and some of us are hard-of-hearing. Societies are noisy affairs, drowning out the sound of ourselves and our connection.”

Hard Moments Grows Sound Born Growing Up Messages Evidence Connections Claims Affair Hearing Despite Genes Drowning Noisy Fondness

Book:Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony

Source: Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony

“Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into wars, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves... They do everything but watch television.”

Humans Children War Use Human Beings Enemy Watches Information Television Army Raises Slave Labour Farms Capture Chemicals Ants Embarrassment Alarms Spray Fungi Livestock Child Labour

Author:Lewis Thomas

“There's really no such thing as the agony of dying. I'm quite sure that pain is shut off at the moment of death. You see, something happens when the body knows it's about to go. Peptide hormones are released by cells in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Endorphins. They attach themselves to the cells responsible for feeling pain.”

Knows Moments Feelings Body Happens Pain Dying Responsible Cells Agony Hormones Glands Endorphins Feeling Pain Hypothalamus

Author:Lewis Thomas

“The most solid piece of scientific truth I know of is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature.”

Knows Pieces Ignorant Scientific Truth

Author:Lewis Thomas

“Animals have genes for altruism, and those genes have been selected in the evolution of many creatures because of the advantage they confer for the continuing survival of the species.”

Has Beens Science Animal Evolution Creatures Survival Advantage Species Genes Continuing Altruism Selected

Book:Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony

Source: Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony

“I won't compare ants and people, but ants give us a useful model of how single members of a community can become so organized that they end up resembling, in effect, one big collective brain. Our own exploding population and communication technology are leading us that way.”

People Way Giving Ends Bigs Community Brain Technology Effects Communication Members Models Population Compare Organized Collectives Ants Exploding Communication Technology

Author:Lewis Thomas

“The central task of science is to arrive, stage by stage, at a clearer comprehension of nature, but this does not at all mean, as it is sometimes claimed to mean, a search for mastery over nature.”

Mean Doe Sometimes Science Nature Stage Tasks Mastery Comprehension

Book:A Long Line of Cells Collected Essays

Source: A Long Line of Cells Collected Essays