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travisjlund's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible. I LOVED it, though it might hit others differently. Dettmer approaches the human immune system, which is horrifyingly complex and unintuitive, with a hefty dose of dry humor and absurd-but-helpful analogies (in which immune cells are rampaging rhinos, or secret agents, or chimps with machine guns, or hot dog vendors, etc). Strong Douglas Adams vibes. Also, gorgeous full-color illustrations throughout. Highly recommended if you like Douglas Adams or have an immune system.
Selected quotes below.
The two opening sentences of the book:
"The story of the immune system begins with the story of life itself, almost 3.5 billion years ago, in some strange puddle on a hostile and vastly empty planet. We don’t know what these first living beings did, or what their deal was, but we know they very soon started to be mean to each other."
In the next paragraph:
"If you had a time machine and went back to marvel at the wonders of this competition, you would be pretty bored, as there was nothing big enough to see other than a few faint films of bacteria on some wet rocks."
From Chapter 6:
"You can imagine your skin less as a wall and more like a conveyor belt of death."
Later on, a sentence I might start using while teaching organic chemistry:
"First let me clear up another simplification (which sounds much better than 'a convenient lie that made it easier to get to the point where we are now')."
Six stars.
Selected quotes below.
The two opening sentences of the book:
"The story of the immune system begins with the story of life itself, almost 3.5 billion years ago, in some strange puddle on a hostile and vastly empty planet. We don’t know what these first living beings did, or what their deal was, but we know they very soon started to be mean to each other."
In the next paragraph:
"If you had a time machine and went back to marvel at the wonders of this competition, you would be pretty bored, as there was nothing big enough to see other than a few faint films of bacteria on some wet rocks."
From Chapter 6:
"You can imagine your skin less as a wall and more like a conveyor belt of death."
Later on, a sentence I might start using while teaching organic chemistry:
"First let me clear up another simplification (which sounds much better than 'a convenient lie that made it easier to get to the point where we are now')."
Six stars.
thejester09's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
One of the best books I’ve read. He uses enticing language and makes hard topics easy to understand. He’s really made immunology fun and has inspired me. The diagrams are amazing and I have learnt so much from it
joelprowting's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing book that provides an easily readable and digestible look at how the immune system works. This area of biology is highly complex, but I thought that the book did a great job of simplifying the language/various processes at work while clearly getting across the core concept. If you don’t know much about how the immune system works, I highly recommend checking this out. The info is especially useful right now considering the current pandemic
loomistj's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic. Simple enough to understand yet feels like you get a great overview of the immune system and beyond. Surprisingly fun and funny writing and a much quicker read then you'd expect with it's short, digestible sections.
Highly recommend.
Highly recommend.
shraddhasingh's review against another edition
5.0
Great MHC class I window to a complicated topic. I enjoyed learning about our immune systems through animated battles throughout our bodies