[Taxacom] mission impossible?

[muscapaul]

Hi all,

"One fool can ask more questions than seven wise men can answer." I was
asked a question and thought to approach more than seven wise men. An
acquaintance of mine is building an exhibition and somewhere in it he wants
to point to the (relative) insignificance of men (as a species) in the
grander scale of things. He is on a more philosophical approach. One way he
wants to do it is to relate the number livings cells in men to the total
number of living cells on earth. So here is the million dollar question:
What is the best (gu)es(s)timate of how many living cells there are on
Earth, including both the unicellular and multicellular organisms. Cells,
not individuals or specimens...

Just hoping not to open a can of worms...

Thanks for your input.

Paul


*Paul Beuk | Curator biology*


*Collections and Presentations | Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht T* + 31
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