The Immune System: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Some of these very short introduction books are easier to read than others. This volume is pretty good at covering a complex subject.

This is an admirable introductory discussion of a very complex subject being buffeted by a vast flow of research. The discussion is probably not, however, suited to the general reader. To his credit, the author freely (and frequently) admits that “....is not well understood” throughout the book. Despite the continuous discovery of myriad new molecular and genetic pathways engaging the immune system, it is a sobering fact that we are no closer today to immunization (vaccines) for diseases that number millions of victims a year, including TB, HIV, and malaria, since the volume’s publication in 2017.To be fair, the entry on the immune system in Wikipedia is probably a better general entry point to the subject due to its superior conciseness, organization, and of course in text links. Nonetheless, for someone in healthcare or the sciences, this is an absorbing two or three hour airline read or review.

This is the best book I have found on immunology, written for general audience. As a patient, it tells you what you need to know to ask intelligent questions!

I was satisfied.

This book is true to the title. It is pretty short, but it is very deep in its explanations of this marvelous feature of our bodies. I particularly enjoyed the comments about the evolution of our immune system.

I have MCAS and while it doesn't name my disease specifically, it sure describes it better than I do under over active immune responses. I bought this book to do just that since no one understands my symptoms or how IgE responses work and want something more than an over simplified response. if you don't get it, go back to chapter one where they explain everything.

I wanted to learn the basics of the immune system so I could better understand Geert Vanden Bossche's, "The Inescapable Immune Escape Pandemic." It is difficult reading as I do not have a good foundation in immune system fundamentals. This book helped a little but then started discussing the wonderfulness of vaccines. Fortunately I have read the book, "Turtles All The Way Down, Vaccine Science and Myth." and know that none of the standard vaccines have been tested against an inert placebo, and no true risk vs. benefit study has been done because big Pharma has secretly done retrospective studies and Know! that an honest study will show horrible results. Everybody needs to read Turtles before they cripple or kill your babies or grandchildren. 50% of crib deaths occur with in a week of a vaccination.So this book had some good stuff on the immune system basics but then started discussing medical treatments. I only wanted to learn about the natural immune system, not how the big pharma and the corporate captured FDA/CDC messes with it to make money. Note that there was nothing about the importance of vitamin D for immune system health. It's the most essential supplement of all if you are not getting daily sunshine in the winter. This book, nothing. Vaccines, rah, rah, rah.Between this book, and Dr. Bossche's book I did learn a lot about the first line of defense, the cell based innate immune system. Cell based means not using antibodies. The first line of defense use Natural Killer cells to destroy cells showing distress from a viral infection. When this works well, the virus never manages to reproduce, and you do not get sick, or it is very brief, maybe a fever as the immune system kicks into high gear to destroy the invader. You do not develop antibodies unless the virus succeeds in producing viable copies. You will get sick when that happens.Not the book I was looking for. I just received another book, "How the Immune System Works," Lauren Sompayrac. I hope this author has not been captured by big pharma. I haven't read a word. Flipping pages shows lots of illustrations. I have hope for the new book. (Note that I bought all of the books I mentioned through Amazon. I only mention this in case censors want to damage Amazon sales.)

for a specialist or a prime knowledge. This book is written by a specialist as a scientific paper. The reader must have a strong knowledge of biochemistry to understand the several abbreviations that turn the book almost impossible to be read. In kindle is a hard task return to abbreviation list and return to text. Otherwise, it loses time on a trivial subject as defining sepsis. The subject is important but the book must be rewritten toward a comprehension of a large audience.

The Short History stable of books is packed with concise information packed into a handy number of pages, written by experts in the field. This book is no exception. I have never studied biology, but I have started to read these short books. This one blew my mind and I found it hard to follow. My area is astro-physics and planetary science and I have touched on some aspects of living organisms. I had no idea that the immune system was so complex, varied and interconnected. It is well worth reading just to have your brain scrambled. They say rocket science is complicated, but the immune system is on another level. This is a great little book and very well written. 5-stars from me.

Informative. Science at its best.

学習の為

Always found immunology a bit dry and boring at Uni. Thought I'd try this.Seems to be thorough, but no attempt to use reader friendly language.Reads like some lecture notes from an immunology course slightly shortened and compressed into a small book.Line drawings aren't great, often very crude.If you are planning to read this in a quiet environment with no interruptions and some coffee, and ideally already have a science degree, it might be OK. Not one for the more casual reader.

A doctor once explained to me that the immune system is like thousands of patriot missile systems patrolling the blood-stream and shooting down hostile invaders. When I saw this book I decided to learn a little bit more. Well, it may be a Very Short Introduction, but it is also a very detailed one, and I dread to think how much more complicated some of textbooks in the bibliography must be. Some of these Very Short Introductions dealing with the humanities are written by academics out to establish their post-modern credentials and are therefore of little use as introductions to their subject, but I assume I can take this book on trust as giving a true picture of the current state of knowledge in the field. Professor Klenermam explains all the different sub-systems that make up the immune system, and goes on to discuss what happens in those illnesses where the system is weak, and in those where it is over-active. All I can do is marvel. (Interestingly, a virus appears to have infected the list of other publications in this series at the front of the book. I was confused by a number of volumes dealing with a subject called “philactradephy”. I assume that this is meant to be “philosophy”.)