Includes bibliographical references (pages 429-437) and index.

Prelude: "The elementary particles of organisms" -- Introduction: "We shall always return to the cell" -- Part one: Discovery -- The original cell: an invisible world -- The visible cell: "Fictitious stories about the little animals" -- The universal cell: "The smallest particle of this little world" -- The pathogenic cell: microbes, infections, and the antibiotic revolution -- Part two: The one and the many -- The organized cell: the interior anatomy of the cell -- The dividing cell: cellular reproduction and the birth of IVF -- The tampered cell: Lulu, Nana, and the transgressions of trust -- The developing cell: a cell becomes an organism -- Part three: Blood -- The restless cell: circles of blood -- The healing cell: platelets, clots, and a "modern epidemic" -- The guardian cell: neutrophils and their kampf against pathogens -- The defending cell: when a body meets a body -- The discerning cell: the subtle intelligence of the T cell -- The tolerant cell: the self, horror antitoxicus, and immunotherapy -- Part four: Knowledge -- The pandemic -- Part five: Organs -- The citizen cell: the benefits of belonging -- The contemplating cell: the many-minded neuron -- The orchestrating cell: homeostasis, fixity, and balance -- Part six: Rebirth -- The renewing cell: stem cells and the birth of transplantation -- The repairing cell: injury, decay, and constancy -- The selfish cell: the ecological equation and cancer -- The songs of the cell -- Epilogue: "Better versions of me".