false 3 1 false false Tue Jan 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 31 12:30:18 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 07 20:30:07 -0800 2009
I loved his illustration of how cell membranes work -- using two pieces of bread, a large chunk of butter and olives! He makes it all intuitive.

He proves that the real brains of the cell is not the nucleus, as I was taught in 7th grade, but it is actually the membrane. The nucleus is more like the "gonads" -- as he calls it. It's not necessary for the cell to live. In fact, cells can live for up to 2 months without a nucleus, but without their membrane they die automatically.

It was interesting to learn tidbits about what I don't know --I'll need to check out a quantum physics book next. He makes a damn good case that biologists lack of understanding of quantum physics causes them to disregard the effects of energy on our cells.

However, in the Epilogue, Lipton starts to make connections to greater society and the ecosystem, mentioning that we need to have a communitarian (centrally controlled) system where we aren't warring with each other. Living peacefully.

Then in one of his examples he mentioned how a group of violent chimpanzees managed to reform when the most aggressive males ate some bad meat which killed them, leaving the women and less aggressive men to form a more peaceful society.

But in the previous sentence he advocates for accepting everyone in the world as they are. Doesn't this seem like a contradiction to say that we must remove the violent/aggressive elements in society while accepting them?

His ideas on biology are intriguing but I don't think that he is quite skilled at making assessments about political-economy, international relations, and other social science issues.]]>