Germ Warfare: Breakthroughs in Immunology [Paperback]

Alan G. Baxter (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1865080705 | ISBN-13: 978-1865080703 | Publication Date: October 2000

This collection of stories looks at the people who have charted new territory in the world of immunology and the work each has done. The researchers and their ground-breaking work have enabled us to understand how the immune system works and begin to understand autoimmune diseases. Alan Baxter describes what we currently know about the weapons of our immune systems and how they target infection and disease. The focus then turns to individual scientists and the remarkable discoveries which have contributed to our understanding of the way in which the immune system recognizes and fights infections, including: immunological tolerance; graft-versus-host disease; recirculation of lymphocytes; and the role of the thymus.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Baxter completed a Ph.D. at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute and has worked as a research fellow at Harvard and Cambridge universities.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin Pty., Limited (Australia) (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1865080705
• ISBN-13: 978-1865080703
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,634,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different but brilliant..., November 21, 2001

By 

Natalie Hall (Kensington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Germ Warfare: Breakthroughs in Immunology (Paperback)

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this book. At a time when germ warfare on a global scale threatens to terrify us all, it was comforting and inspiring to read about germ warfare of an entirely different kind. This fascinating book tells of the biological battle our bodies fight day to day against microscopic invaders. Not so much a novel as a composite of short, surprising, remarkable, funny and awe-inspiring tales this book gives accounts of scientific discoveries and personalities in an engaging style and enigmatic manner unparalleled in any published work of this kind. Baxter is careful to keep everything in layman's terms yet he manages to convey an understanding of the science and its significance with great skill and passion. Whether you're an immunologist or you've never studied science in your life, as long as you're interested in your health and your body's defense system I guarantee you will not be disappointed in this innovative and captivating book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The urban legends of bioscience, November 18, 2001

By 

Roland Darl (Cambridge) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Germ Warfare: Breakthroughs in Immunology (Paperback)

This is an amazing book. It tells the stories of how we learned how the body fights infections like Ebola. The strange thing is that often the most important scientific discoveries were inspired by the most trivial of motivations. Wrapped up in the sometimes highly improbably tales of the scientists' lives is the science presented in a clear and interesting way. You get some understanding, not only of what they did, but why and how they did it, and you come to realise that they are really just someone like you. Strongly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An engaging history of immunology, January 9, 2001

By 

nick casey (Brisbane, Aust) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Germ Warfare: Breakthroughs in Immunology (Paperback)

On one level I appreciated this book as a concise guided tour through the history of immunology, at another level I was filled with pride by the contributions Australian scientists have made to our understanding of immunology (the author is Australian, and has an insiders knowledge of some of the groundbreaking research conducted in this country). However the book does not dwell too much on Australian scientists, instead giving a background on the people and research behind many of the discoveries that are key to our current understanding of immunology. One minor complaint about the book is that some of the descriptions of the experiments, while in general good and detailed, were on occasion unclear and may take some effort to understand by readers not familiar with the terminology. Overall, however, I strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the history of immunology.