"Until the late nineteenth century, lichens were understood as individual
organisms. It was then suggested, controversially, that a lichen was, in fact, a
partnership. The division between the partners might have been invisible at
first, but underneath a microscope, it was plain as day: a lichen was a pact
between a fungus and an alga. Scientists began to speak of symbiosis: not
survival of the fittest, but cooperation, reciprocity, partnership."
In this lovely piece Jennifer Croft derives lessons in translation from a
microscopic natural partnership.
