Entering an Unseen World

Entering an Unseen World

A Founding Laboratory and Origins of Modern Cell Biology 1910–1974

By: Carol L. Moberg

Publication date: December 2012
SKU: 9780874701050
ISBN: 9780874701050

Title information

Entering an Unseen World is an in-depth story about how a singular laboratory contributed to creating a new science, modern cell biology. The story begins in 1910, in a laboratory devoted to studying cancer at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, and culminates in 1974 when the Nobel Prize was awarded to three pioneering scientists. Chapters devoted to the early years offer a compelling narrative about this laboratory while focusing on five aspects of how this science unfolded through time: the hundreds of scientists involved, a nurturing environment, the experimental procedures developed, the instruments devised and mastered, and the discoveries made in a previously unseen world.

First-person chapters by more than 20 scientists associated with this laboratory follow. They describe their roles exploring the intricate and fascinating world inside living cells. Their stories show what it takes to create a science while revealing in detail what we now take for granted: the cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. Nearly 150 classic illustrations and photographs document the evolution of their discoveries.

Entering an Unseen World conveys the excitement of process and progress as this science came to life.

Pages: 499
Language: English
Publisher: The Rockefeller University Press
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)

Carol L. Moberg

Carol L. Moberg is on the faculty of The Rockefeller University. She has a PhD from Columbia University in comparative literature. Her articles on scientists, science history, and biomedical science have been published in Scientific American, Science, The Journal of Experimental Medicine, and Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. She was co-editor and contributor to Launching the Antibiotic Era and is the author of René Dubos, Friend of the Good Earth.

PLOS Biology

 “Although past work on cell biology has made use of interviews and archives, nobody has delved deeper than Moberg.”

The FASEB Journal

“Moberg has performed an important service to the community by assembling the texts, images, and references that give this volume unusual depth.”

Molecular Biology of the Cell

“Moberg has engagingly told the vibrant story that unfolded…and we owe her an enormous debt for having done so.”

Tsitologiya (Cytology, Russian)

"Altogether, this is one of the best books in this genre."