Spine title: The living cell. "This book is published in collaboration with the Rockefeller University Press." Errata slip inserted, v. 2. Includes indexes. Scientific American Library Series Published Schedule no. 11.

Volume 1. 1. Preparing for the tour -- Itinerary I. The outskirts and surface of the cell, the vacuome -- 2. Extracellular structures, with an introduction to polysaccharides and proteins -- 3. The cell surface, with an introduction to membranes and lipids -- 4. Entering the cell: endocytosis and vesicular transport -- 5. The meals of a cell: lysosomes and intracellular digestion -- 6. The cell's export industry: endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, and secretion -- Itinerary II. The cytosol and cytoplasmic organelles -- 7. The cytosol: glycolysis, electron transfer, and anaerobic energy retrieval -- 8. The cytosol: group transfer and biosynthesis -- 9. The mitochondria: respiration and aerobic energy retrieval -- 10. Chloroplasts: autotrophy and photosynthesis -- 11. Peroxisomes and sundry other microbodies -- 12. Cytobones and cytomuscles. Volume 2. 13. Membranes in action: a view from the cytosol -- 14. The nexus of metabolism: integration and regulation -- 15. Ribosomes: the synthesis of proteins -- Itinerary III. The nucleus -- 16. Transcription and editing of genetic messages -- 17. DNA replication and repair -- 18. Recombination and other genetic rearrangements -- 19. Making two out of one: mitosis and meiosis -- Appendices -- 1. The building blocks of living cells -- 2. Principles of bioenergetics. In this first volume, the reader examines a cell's outer and inner membranes and the cell's own organs.