Even in a relatively short career publishing books for a general audience, Siddhartha Mukherjee has proven himself to be an indispensable science writer, the author of the modern classics The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene. In a starred review, we call his latest, The Song of the Cell (Scribner, Oct. 25), “another outstanding addition to the author’s oeuvre, which we hope will continue to grow for years to come.” The author answered our questions via email.

You have had a successful academic and clinical career. What was the impetus to write books for a general audience?

I wanted to bring my readers into the world that I inhabit—a world imbued with the excitement of science and medicine as well as its failures and flaws. Medicine and science are human professions, and all things human—aspiration, ambition, greed, envy, hope, passion, love—are embodied within it. I want my readers to understand how we came about discovering the deepest secrets of nature: Where exactly was Rosalind Franklin when she performed her crucial experiments on DNA? Why did the highly touted breast cancer trials in the 1990s go wrong? What are we made of? Why does anyone need to know about cells and cellular therapy?

What were some of the most formative books for you as a child?

I read a lot and had many favorites; it would be hard to list them all. As a child, I loved fantasy and science fiction—and so The Ring Trilogy (Tolkien), Dune (Herbert) and Asimov’s and Heinlein’s books loomed large. As I grew older, I began to discover more fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Primo Levi’s Life in Auschwitz was a touchstone. Midnight’s Children by Rushdie, Suketu Mehta’s mesmerizing Maximum City, Kate Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and any of Murakami’s and Borges’ books taught me to read and write. Lewis Thomas’ The Lives of a Cell and Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal. Oh, and fiction and poetry: Zadie Smith’s White Teeth sent a joy and chill up my undergraduate spine. There was Sylvia Plath, of course; I read her in my moody teens and still come back to her. And finally, all I can remember now is a visit to Emily Dickinson’s house in Amherst, Massachusetts, with a miniscule desk overlooking a window in a tiny room. She reinvented modern poetry in this space, I often remind myself: How can one fathom it?

If someone were going to write the story of your life, who would you want it to be (and why)?

Tough question. I guess I’d choose Lewis Thomas because he was so familiar with the intricacies and intimacies of being a scientist.

You are one of the most acclaimed contemporary science writers. For fans of your books, who else would you recommend?

The list goes on and on from above. Over and beyond those I have already mentioned, I loved Jenny Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad. It’s not about science, but it raises a lot of questions about psychiatry and personality. Borges’ Labyrinths, which contain some of his best essays, and any book by Oliver Sacks, say, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

Eric Liebetrau is the nonfiction and managing editor.