Atlas of Bacterial and Archaeal Cell Structure is an experiment in open-access textbook publishing, aiming to take full advantage of the digital medium to showcase state-of-the-art 3D scientific imaging. The book draws on the specialized expertise of the Jensen Laboratory at Caltech in state-of-the art 3D cryogenic electron microscopy (Cryo-EM). In partnership with the Caltech Library, authors Grant Jensen and Catherine Oikonomou were able to develop an interactive publication that allowed them to offer much richer content, with movies to show the 3D data and flexible navigation options for readers to tailor their experience. The result is a guided tour of the microbial cell, using more than 150 movies of dozens of different species to illustrate the architectural features that allow cells to grow, divide, move, and thrive.