From a single cell--a fertilized egg--comes an elephant, a fly, or a human. How does this astonishing feat happen? How does the egg "know" what to become? How does it divide into the different cells, the separate tissues, the brain, the fingernail--every tiniest detail of the growing fetus? In this Very Short Introduction, renowned scientist Lewis Wolpert shows how the field of developmental biology seeks to answer these profound questions. A distinguished developmental biologist himself, Wolpert offers a concise and highly readable account of what we now know about development, discussing...

Lewis Wolpert had a severe depressive episode, and despite a happy marriage and successful scientific career, he could think only of suicide. When he recovered, he wrote this book, an investigation into the causes and treatments of this disease. This edition features an introduction, in which Lewis Wolpert discusses his struggle with depression.