An encyclopedia by Alterspan Labs
The electric life of cells.
How living tissue uses voltage and energy to build, repair and decide. Written from 141 books and papers, 1852 to now, and rewritten every night as the library grows.
The library, drawn as living tissue
A large cell is an article. Brighter means the library holds more on it.
A small cell is a book held in full.
A hollow cell is a book still in copyright: described, not held.
A dotted wall joins two linked articles that touch.
Numbers mark the reading path, one to nine.
Start here
It begins with a current flowing from a wound.
Nine articles, in order, from a frog's cut muscle to cells that agree on the shape of a body. They are numbered on the map.
- 01from 1852 · 98 passagesAnimal electricityA cut muscle drives a current. Du Bois-Reymond measured it; the argument over what it means has not ended.
- 02from 1902 · 566 passagesThe resting potentialEvery cell holds a voltage across its membrane, not only nerve and muscle.
- 03from 1902 · 711 passagesPlants answer tooBose recorded electrical responses in plants and metals and asked where the living begins.
- 04from 1888 · 804 passagesOne cell, behavingJennings and Binet watched Paramecium and Stentor avoid, choose and adapt.
- 05from 1880 · 483 passagesMachine or agentLoeb called it forced movement. Jennings called it trial and error.
- 06from 1888 · 1,199 passagesGrowing backMorgan, Child and the planarian: what tells a fragment which end is the head.
- 07from 2016 · 75 passagesThe voltage mapPatterns of membrane voltage that precede anatomy, and what happens when they are rewritten.
- 08from 2013 · 48 passagesWhere the energy comes fromProton gradients across membranes: the cell's other electricity.
- 09from 2019 · 23 passagesHow big is a selfCells joined by gap junctions pursue goals no single cell holds.
The articles
49 ideas, each traced through the texts.
Oldest first within each strand. The year is the earliest source the article quotes; the mark is its colour on the map.
Bioelectricity12
- Current of injury1852
- Cancer as a bioelectric disorder1899
- Galvanotaxis1899
- Electrical response of living tissue1902
- Resting membrane potential1902
- Electrical resistance, conductivity and permeability as measures of injury and recovery1915
- Depolarization and hyperpolarization1923
- Neurotransmitters before neurons2011
- Gap junctions2012
- Electrical activity of the brain2013
- Bioelectric prepattern2016
- Ion channels and pumps2016
Bioenergetics7
Morphogenesis and form9
Minds of small things12
- Circumnutation1880
- Habit and plasticity1880
- Root tip as brain-like sensing organ1880
- Tropism1880
- Behaviour of single cells1888
- Basal cognition1890
- Criteria of mind1890
- Collective intelligence of cells1899
- Memory in planaria1901
- Trial and error1906
- Conditioned reflex1908
- Decision-making and learning in slime mould2015
Goals and control3
Evolution and evolvability2
The library
36 books and 105 papers held in full. 77 more described.
Each mark is one work, set in its decade. Books from 1930 or earlier are in the public domain and can be read here. Later books are still in copyright, so they are described: that is the hollow middle of the picture.
book held in fullbook described, still in copyrightopen paper held
On Animal Electricity: Being an Abstract of the Discoveries of Emil du Bois-ReymondDu Bois-Reymond, E. (ed. H. Bence…
1852
1852

On Animal Electricity: Being an Abstract of the Discoveries…
Du Bois-Reymond, E. (ed.…
1852
1852
The Power of Movement in PlantsDarwin, C.
1880
1880

The Power of Movement in Plants
Darwin, C.
1880
1880
The Psychic Life of Micro-organisms: A Study in Experimental PsychologyBinet, A.
1888
1888

The Psychic Life of Micro-organisms: A Study in…
Binet, A.
1888
1888
The Principles of Psychology, Vols. 1-2James, W.
1890
1890

The Principles of Psychology, Vols. 1-2
James, W.
1890
1890
Materials for the Study of Variation Treated with Especial Regard to Discontinuity in the…Bateson, W.
1894
1894

Materials for the Study of Variation Treated with Especial…
Bateson, W.
1894
1894
General Physiology: An Outline of the Science of LifeVerworn, M.
1899
1899

General Physiology: An Outline of the Science of Life
Verworn, M.
1899
1899
RegenerationMorgan, T. H.
1901
1901

Regeneration
Morgan, T. H.
1901
1901
Response in the Living and Non-LivingBose, J. C.
1902
1902

Response in the Living and Non-Living
Bose, J. C.
1902
1902
Mutual Aid: A Factor of EvolutionKropotkin, P.
1902
1902

Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution
Kropotkin, P.
1902
1902
The Nature of Man: Studies in Optimistic PhilosophyMetchnikoff, E.
1903
1903

The Nature of Man: Studies in Optimistic Philosophy
Metchnikoff, E.
1903
1903
Behavior of the Lower OrganismsJennings, H. S.
1906
1906

Behavior of the Lower Organisms
Jennings, H. S.
1906
1906
Plant Response as a Means of Physiological InvestigationBose, J. C.
1906
1906

Plant Response as a Means of Physiological Investigation
Bose, J. C.
1906
1906
Comparative Electro-Physiology: A Physico-Physiological StudyBose, J. C.
1907
1907

Comparative Electro-Physiology: A Physico-Physiological…
Bose, J. C.
1907
1907
The Animal Mind: A Textbook of Comparative PsychologyWashburn, M. F.
1908
1908

The Animal Mind: A Textbook of Comparative Psychology
Washburn, M. F.
1908
1908
The Science and Philosophy of the OrganismDriesch, H.
1908
1908

The Science and Philosophy of the Organism
Driesch, H.
1908
1908
The Mechanistic Conception of LifeLoeb, J.
1912
1912

The Mechanistic Conception of Life
Loeb, J.
1912
1912
The Life of the PlantTimiriazeff, C. A.
1912
1912

The Life of the Plant
Timiriazeff, C. A.
1912
1912
Researches on Irritability of PlantsBose, J. C.
1913
1913

Researches on Irritability of Plants
Bose, J. C.
1913
1913
Individuality in OrganismsChild, C. M.
1915
1915

Individuality in Organisms
Child, C. M.
1915
1915
Principles of General PhysiologyBayliss, W. M.
1915
1915

Principles of General Physiology
Bayliss, W. M.
1915
1915
The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical ViewpointLoeb, J.
1916
1916

The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical Viewpoint
Loeb, J.
1916
1916
Life Movements in PlantsBose, J. C.
1918
1918

Life Movements in Plants
Bose, J. C.
1918
1918
Injury, Recovery and Death in Relation to Conductivity and PermeabilityOsterhout, W. J. V.
1922
1922

Injury, Recovery and Death in Relation to Conductivity and…
Osterhout, W. J. V.
1922
1922
Protoplasmic Action and Nervous ActionLillie, R. S.
1923
1923

Protoplasmic Action and Nervous Action
Lillie, R. S.
1923
1923
The Physiology of the Ascent of SapBose, J. C.
1923
1923

The Physiology of the Ascent of Sap
Bose, J. C.
1923
1923
Physiological Foundations of BehaviorChild, C. M.
1924
1924

Physiological Foundations of Behavior
Child, C. M.
1924
1924
Elements of Physical BiologyLotka, A. J.
1925
1925

Elements of Physical Biology
Lotka, A. J.
1925
1925
The Nervous Mechanism of PlantsBose, J. C.
1926
1926

The Nervous Mechanism of Plants
Bose, J. C.
1926
1926
A Bipolar Theory of Living ProcessesCrile, G. W.
1926
1926

A Bipolar Theory of Living Processes
Crile, G. W.
1926
1926
Muscular ActivityHill, A. V.
1926
1926

Muscular Activity
Hill, A. V.
1926
1926
Plant Autographs and Their RevelationsBose, J. C.
1927
1927

Plant Autographs and Their Revelations
Bose, J. C.
1927
1927
Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral…Pavlov, I. P.
1927
1927

Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological…
Pavlov, I. P.
1927
1927
The Motor Mechanism of PlantsBose, J. C.
1928
1928

The Motor Mechanism of Plants
Bose, J. C.
1928
1928
The History of Biological TheoriesRádl, E.
1930
1930

The History of Biological Theories
Rádl, E.
1930
1930
An Introduction to the Study of Experimental MedicineBernard, C.
1957
1957

An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine
Bernard, C.
1957
1957
On Growth and FormThompson, D. A. W.
1992
1992

On Growth and Form
Thompson, D. A. W.
1992
1992