Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive

I loved this book! During the pandemic, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Naturally I became very interested in learning about the human body, my condition specifically, and how disease and illness happen. I knew about antibodies and autoantibodies from reading articles about COVID and my own health situation, but I didn't really know much about the immune system beyond that. This book was simply excellent. It provided a great high level overview of the various immune cells, what they do, and how they interact with each other and pathogens. The book wasn't dry like a textbook. It was written with more of a storytelling tone while still providing scientific explanations on the different components of the immune system. There was also a lot of humor thrown in and I frequently found myself chuckling. Most of the book is about the various immune cells and what happens when they encounter bacteria or viruses. Once all the cells have been discussed, the remainder of the book covers additional topics like allergies, autoimmune diseases, cancer, vaccines, specific illnesses like measles and HIV/AIDS, and how stress and the environment impact the immune system. Those topics were easy to understand and appreciate after learning about the immune system players. I learned a lot from this book! I have a much better understanding of the immune system. And as a patient, I thought it was actually really cool to be able to look back at some of my past bloodwork and finally know what my doctor was checking. This is definitely a book that I will reference in the future. One of the other reviewers criticized the references to COVID and claimed that the book was politically motivated. I disagree. COVID wasn't discussed all that much in the book, and when it was mentioned, the author made it very clear that the information he included was the current understanding as of the time he was writing the book. He made it clear that our understanding of it would likely change as we learned more in the coming years and his information could become outdated. I thought his references actually made the content more applicable to today's current events. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm actually kind of sad I finished it because it was that good. If you're interested in learning about the immune system, but you don't have a scientific background (or even if you do!) this would be a great book for you!

After spending a lot of free time reading articles in scientific periodicals, books, and the occasional documentary or online video (TED talks etc), I wanted to increase my understanding of the human immune system. The idea was to go beyond the paper-thin treatments given by television media and other popular sources (who basically throw buzz-words around for a 2 minute story without really understanding things). At the same time I realized I would be overwhelmed by the level of detail and terminology in a typical college level text — typically the only places you can find real detail on a topic like this. The world of molecular biology and immunology is awash in a very choppy, barf-inducing sea of acronyms and chemical symbols, inscrutable labels, and hair-splitting concepts (as in five different things that sound almost exactly the same but aren't so you re-read, re-read, re-read). After searching for middle ground it can be very easy to give up. Enter this book, which goes into real depth in explaining the components of our immune system, and does use some clinical terminology but never in a way that forces you to re-read something 3 times. The author even jokes on a few occasions about how ridiculous the naming schemas and terminologies are and then sets to giving certain concepts his own (usually funnier) names. But maybe the best thing about this book is how the author weaves in an amazing collection of original, color illustrations that really help the reader reinforce and actually learn how things work. This is very smart: human beings are heavily visual creatures and with a topic this complicated having a set of detailed, intuitive visuals to go with the text is invaluable. These aren't ordinarily text book artworks; they are designed, sequenced, and captioned in such a way that it quickly reinforces the larger concept of what you just read before you move on to the next chapter. Honestly never seen anything like it and I think it would be great if more high schools and colleges used approaches like this to keep kids from getting frustrated. I know for sure I would not have been scared away from biology and medical topics at that age, if I'd read something like this first. Imagine you have a tough scientific topic but instead of having an 800 page text book being the first thing the student is hit with, they get a book like this for the first month of class to whet their appetites and then they go into the text book with some eagerness to know more and the confidence provided by a basic but real understanding. Because of the author's approach the book is not only informative but fun to read because you're learning stuff on a level that goes well beyond what the popular media give us, without having to slog through the way you would with a text book. All the while at the end you actually want to go and get that textbook to take your learning even further ("hey, maybe I can understand this stuff after all or at least some of it!"). Bottom line the author has done a superb job of educating us without sounding like a sleep-inducing professor or some media clown trying to be over-dramatic while getting it half right or glossing over important details. Would give it 6 stars if I could. Awesome (and I rarely use that word in book reviews : )

We carry our body around with us mostly unaware of the great battle going on within, between antibodies and pathogens involving surveillance and countersurveillance, subterfuge and intricate double verifications. When we get sick and our immune system is called to save the day, we may acknowledge its presence but most of us understand little about how it functions and keeps us alive for many decades despite constant onslaught from parasites, viruses and bacteria. Our immune system has wonderous mechanisms for repair and regeneration and also contains warning mechanisms and self-destruction for disrupted cells. It has an emergent intelligence which seems more than the composite feedback mechanisms of each individual line of defence. The immune system has memory cells which can quickly recognize a foreign antigen to which the body was previously exposed even though it may be a long time ago. It's first function is to distinguish between "self" and "other", and when a series of mutations and malfunctions lead to mistakes in the identity of cells, we develop autoimmune diseases and cancer. The immune system must answer these questions: - How not to be wasteful with resources of energy? - What kinds of forces need to be frontline and which ones held in reserve? - How can you react strongly to a sudden invasion while preventing your army from exhausting itself too quickly? - How to deal with the massive scope of the body and millions of different enemies to repel? Philipp Dettmer has written a book that is both exciting and informative. His riveting action descriptions bring alive the dynamics of the immune system in a unique way and is amply illustrated. The experience is more like watching a western or war film that reading a textbook. In fact ,if you try reading a textbook on immunology, you will quickly get bogged down in a mass of complicated details, since our immune system is really really complicated. The genius of this book is to simplify while still giving you lots of information. Most books on science written by journalists sacrifice information to give you an interesting reading experience, while books written by experts give you too much information and are pretty indigestible. Dettner is a science communicator who recovered from cancer so quite simply he is the man for the job. His writing is alive and imaginative in its use of metahors and analogies and you will enjoy the voyage into the intricacies of your immune system.

Immune is an amazing book! It's well written and fun to read. If you have anyone in your family with autoimmune issues, this book gives you a basic understanding of how our incredible immune system works.

Immune does what it promises on the cover: it takes you through a fairly high-level tour of how your immune system is composed. It's high-level by necessity. If you look around, there are literal tomes about the immune system because there's just so many things going on at once and things we don't know. In Immune, you'll learn about everything from macrophages to the thymus. You'll learn interesting things like how infected cells release cytokines, and while these are what lead to inflammation, these are also part of an incredible cascade that activates other parts of your immune system. (If cytokines freak you out, wait until you learn about what neutrophils can do.) You'll also learn some surprising things. For example, there's no real way to "boost" your immune system, and you wouldn't want to even if you could! As it turns out, our immune systems can be pretty aggressive, and for the most part the balance between activation and deactivation can be a delicate thing. Your immune system, if over-activated, can actually hurt you...which makes sense if you think about allergies and autoimmune disorders. If you want a "boosted" immune system, the best thing you can do is eat an at least OK diet, exercise, and manage your stress. Another thing that struck me is how a lot of the immune system feels random. Yes, there are receptors, proteins, etc that different cells react to, but considering how small they are compared to us, it almost feels lucky that these different cells can meet at all. Of course, your heart pumps your blood around, so that helps, but it's just striking how something so effective can have no sentience or sapience. The chapter on how vaccines work was very informative. The entire book is informative and wonderful to read (minus the author's tendency to use "in a nutshell" everywhere). This isn't one of those stuffy books where you feel like you're reading a college textbook. You'll learn about the immune system through various metaphors, such as battlegrounds and hotdog buns. A fantastic book. Worth every penny and minute spent on it.

This is such a fun read. The author's light-hearted, yet clear and scientific approach made the complicated immune system easy for me to understand.

Like everything else that comes out of Philipp's head (that he chooses to share with the world), this book is a fantastic look into concepts that most people would consider out of reach or too specialized to bother trying to understand without training. While a lot more complex than the Kurzgesagt youtube videos, so far I think Immune is a good read and really worth a look for anyone who wants to dive into the topic more than a normal video would. I don't suspect this book is for everyone, I have some minor complaints but nothing worth mentioning here. If you're already reading reviews it's probably worth a read for you. My only complaint is that my copy's cover clearly didn't have a lot of fun while printing. You may be able to tell in the pictures, but there's a glossy film that I assume is supposed to fit over the (beautiful) cover art, but mine seems offset and did not print properly. Also there are a few folds in the cover that I assume happened before shipping. No actual printing issues in the book itself yet, this is just the cover. By no means a reason to skip the book, just be wary that some of them might not be exactly pristine condition. I don't want to drop the rating to a 4 just for this, so consider this review closer to a 4.8 or something. Book is great, sleeve is slightly flawed.

A must read! Will change the way you look at and think of your own body! Beautifully written and illustrated to describe the complex mechanisms of our immune system at work. I first saw the YouTube video of kusgezart on this, got intrigued enough to read the audio book, and then fell in love with it completely that I needed to have the actual book with me!

This book offers a fascinating and humorous journey through the complex world of the human immune system. The author manages to transform an intricate subject into something accessible and entertaining, using creative metaphors and analogies that make the reader smile while learning. For instance, he compares killer T cells to "a dude with a hammer that bashes heads in while laughing maniacally." This approach makes complicated concepts much easier to understand and remember. The book covers a wide range of topics, from the basic functioning of the immune system to current issues like the Covid-19 pandemic. It also discusses practical implications, such as the importance of vaccines and the dangers of diseases like measles, offering crucial information about how these diseases affect our immunity in the long term. One of the highlights is the explanation of why people react differently to diseases like Covid-19, relating this to the diversity of MHC II molecules. The author also addresses intriguing themes, such as the influence of the immune system on partner selection, and demystifies misconceptions about "boosting" the immune system. Although the book occasionally delves into more technical territory, the consistent use of metaphors helps clarify difficult concepts. It's essential reading for anyone interested in better understanding their own body, offering valuable insights into one of our most crucial biological systems. Particularly relevant in today's world, the book provides a scientific perspective on vaccines, pandemics, and overall health. In summary, if you want to learn about the immune system in a way that's both fun and informative, this book is an excellent choice. It will leave you with a new appreciation for the complex defense system that protects us every day.

Libro bastante extenso, con información muy bien explicado, una maravilla de libro.

OMG OMG OMG IT IS AMAZING. In one description it said “imagine you are a thief at a museum, with your friends and as you are leaving with everything, a cop sees you but he doesn’t arrest you he takes out his bones and internal organs and stabs you” Very Very Very Very Very much an amazing book

This book is incredible. So informative and easy to understand as well as being witty. Bravo! The hardback is sturdy and well constructed. The paper stock is satin and good quality. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the immune system or human body.

Ürün birinci kalite ve istenildiği gibiydi. çok teşekkürler.