The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher is a 1979 collection of essays by the American science writer Lewis Thomas.

[1] The title essay is about the relationship between Nudibranch sea slug and the medusa of a jellyfish that inhabit the Bay of Naples.

[1] The Medusa and the Snail won a National Book Award in 1981 in the category of Science - Paperback.

[4] In their review of The Medusa and the Snail, Kirkus Reviews wrote that "Thomas' unexpected turns of phrase and love of words and their origins is revealed again and again...Read Thomas for his estimable style—often disarmingly simple, even colloquial—and the wit and insight into life and medicine his writing embodies".

[1] Joel Hedgpeth, reviewing the book in The Quarterly Review of Biology, described Thomas as an "...adroit, accomplished writer with a pleasing style but inevitably his hit-and-run gives the feeling he does not always think it through" but concluded that "he says many wise and interesting things"...it is obvious his ideal is Montaigne and he has learned his lesson well.