How Low Can You Go? The Numbers of Cells That Make Up Bodies: Large Numbers and Small Numbers

Abstract

This book deals with all sorts of numbers. Most of them have to do with the number of molecules in cells, with small numbers taking center stage. However, it may be difficult to understand how small these numbers are. To get a better sense of these numbers, we will try to think about the numbers of cells that make up the bodies of various creatures, great and small. Even if you know that the human body is made up of an incredibly large number of cells, you would have to be quite well informed to imagine what a large number it is. Even if you know that organisms much more primitive than humans are made up of very small numbers of cells, there is no way you would know the exact number. Here, through a conversation between parents and their child at the dinner table, we will think about how many or how few cells are in various organisms by comparing their numbers to grains of rice in a bowl.