Ciliophora. A subphylum of the Protozoa. The ciliates are a fairly homogeneous group of highly differentiated, unicellular organisms. Over 5000 species have been described, and many more surely exist but remain to be discovered. Typically, ciliates are larger than most other protozoans, ranging from 10 to 3000 micrometers (about 1/2500 to 1/8 in.).
First published in 1985, The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader is unable to forget its images and its forecast. With more than two million copies in print, it is Margaret Atwood's most popular and compelling novel.
When Atwood was writing The Handmaid's Tale in the early 1980s, about 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. per year. Thirty years later, birth rates are again hovering in that range, after a boom in the early 2000s, with birth rates for women under 30 steadily declining.