In the light of this fascinating book, cell scientists and science teachers who are unfamiliar with the author’s work may want to rethink many fundamental processes that they had hitherto accepted and taught. Cellular properties and functions as diverse as cellular integrity, ion gradients, action potentials, muscle contraction, cytoplasmic streaming, microtubule function, cell division and secretion are rationalized using the same unifying principles. Central to the argument is a consideration of the physical properties that determine the interplay between protein, solutes and water, and how these elements give rise to the selectivity and driving force (in the form of phase transitions) that may underpin all these cellular processes. I regard this to be a seminal text in which the work of the author and that of other pioneers working in diverse areas of cell biology is harmoniously integrated by a simple, unifying framework. Furthermore, the book is lucidly written, clearly (and often humorously) illustrated and an enjoyable read. The book starts by examining current dogmas relating to the requirement for a lipid bilayer to maintain cellular integrity and for energy‐driven ion translocators to establish and maintain the observed membrane potential and ion gradients (particularly Na+ and K+) across the plasma membrane. An alternative, simpler and experimentally verifiable alternative is then put forward. In this case the selectivity is rationalized in terms of the gel‐like properties of protein–water mixtures, the extent of hydration of proteins and inorganic ions, the effect of solutes on the solvent properties of water and the likely consequence of protein surface charge on the cellular capacity for specific ionic species. In other words, the simplest physical principles are shown to account credibly for these phenomena so that ‘layers of complexity’ (to use the author’s own words) are actually removed. The properties of protein gels are then elaborated, especially the precipitous changes in state (gel–sol transitions) that can accompany changes in the interaction between protein and solvating water, and how such phase transitions may be induced when one of a variety of stimuli (pH, temperature, chemical reagents, salts, electric fields, mechanical stress, etc.) exceeds a particular threshold, and how this can lead to a variety of responses (change of shape, permeability, mechanical properties, etc.). In fact, the rest of the book serves to illustrate how specific stimuli and responses associated with familiar aspects of cell function might be explained in terms of such phase changes. Thus, it is suggested that action potentials of nerve cells result from ion movements associated with a self‐propagating wave of localized, expansive hydration within the cross‐linked network of cytoskeletal elements just beneath the lipid bilayer. Whether or not the multitude of processes cited are caused by phase transitions, the theories put forward in this book should themselves be amenable to scientific verification. In many instances, the feasibility of the proposed mechanisms is illustrated by describing how the underlying principles have found application in man‐made inventions or processes, such as controlled solute release using gel microspheres (analogous to secretion) and the removal of impurities from crystal rods by zone refining (analogous to actin‐mediated translocation). In spite of the radical claims of the earlier chapters, the final chapters suggest that the author lives in the real world, recognizing that a better description of many processes will ultimately require the amalgamation of theories, old and new. Towards the end of the book several unorthodox claims relating to the energy supply for the various cellular processes were presented, which were weak. For example, it was suggested that the negative charge of ATP was derived from electron transport processes, which is not credible since adenine nucleotides are not electron acceptors. It was also claimed that ATP conferred a greater negative charge to intracellular surfaces than its hydrolysed counterparts (ADP and Pi), which is unlikely since ADP and Pi will always have a greater total negative charge than ATP, at any physiological pH. While these errors do not inpact on the overall importance of the work, they do undermine an otherwise credible argument. I would recommend this book to all biochemists and physiologists: undergraduates, research scientists and teachers alike. Although the material is not beyond A‐level students, the full impact may be lost without prior knowledge of the current theories behind the processes described. While some of the content covers processes peculiar to the animal kingdom (muscle contraction and conduction of nerve impulses), ubiquitous cellular and sub‐cellular processes are also described, the implications of which are equally important for plant and animal scientists.