Customer Reviews

Infection: The Uninvited Universe

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The next time the kid doesn't want to take a bath, remember back to this book. Dr. Callahan says that our bodies are filled with thousands of different kinds of bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses and they are indeed responsible for keeping us alive. We are rather like a colony, of which those cells we call human are ten percent or less of the total.

His conclusion is that we are living too clean a life, our bodies were designed to live in close quarter with animals, dirt, and not bathing too often. He also talks about the overuse of antibotics that are creating new antibiotic resistant strains and basically wiping out the effectiveness of the antibiotics we have (especially in hospitals).

This is a light, easy read book that in turn leaves us with a lot of information about what's happening to our own bodies and to the medical world in general.

It has been a while since I read this. But I am very fond of this little book and thought I would leave some feedback.

This is a brilliant book. Written to be accessible by any reader in what is a compelling tour of pathology by way of mixing fact with personal story. Most importantly, the author integrates these facts and stories to give the reader a scientific perspective that I can only describe as a pious experience.
The layperson will leave this book with an improved perspective and appreciation for the interaction between macro and microbiology, and the mosaic of humanity at all levels.

I would recommend Matt Ridely's The Red Queen as a good follow up read. Or perhaps Carl Zimmers Parasite Rex.

On Infection, the uninvited universe by Gerald N. Callahan (2006)

All thoughtful & interested persons should read this book. It certainly is -or should become- one of the lasting & significant treatise of the 21st century.

Callahan, a professor of Microbiology, Immunology, & Pathology and English (!) at Colorado State University, has crafted an articulate & startling vision that is both science & metaphysic. Both a 'what' and a 'what does it mean?'. His science is rock-solid and his synthesis of the facts is inspired & profound.

In this succinct, pretty straight-forward explanation of disease processes & history, pandemics, friendly & essential micro-organisms, and the structure & function of immunity, Callahan presents a striking claim: Our immune systems are the evolutionary source of our 'selves'. He is not speaking metaphorically but literally: without an immune system, persons would not -could not- exist. Our antibodies create & maintain us as 'I'.

The added benefit of Infection is it's fun to read. Its rich admixture of anecdote, theory & pedagogy make each page an adventure.

I've been buying copies for my family & friends (even my dentist) so I have someone to discuss it with.

As a companion to this. I'd also recommend Callahan's Faith, Madness & Spontaneous Human Combustion. It is less focused (or perhaps just differently focused) than Infection, but no less satisfying.

This book is recommended by OUTFOX because it is very informative for the average reader. Because of the balance that needs to be maintained in regards to our bodies, we need to live with a high level of personal responsibility. Specifically, this book is good to point out that by not maintaining the balance (living too clean or living in an extremely contaminated environment), we are opening ourselves up to many problems. Living too clean can take away the bacteria and other particles that are necessary for our bodies to function and build up immunities. Whereas living too "dirty" can bombard our bodies and not allow our immune system to recover.

Maintaining a lifestyle that promotes the balance will ultimately increase our overall health levels. Read the book!

OUTFOX
OUTFOXprevention.com

Perhaps it was because I enjoyed Prof. Callahan's other work, "Faith, Madness and Spontaneous Human Combustion" that this one left me flat. Callahan's treatment of the immune system in that book was awesome, gripping and truly inspiring. I rate it as one of the best reads I have ever undertaken. Yet while he has a lot of interesting facts laid out in 'Infection: The Universal Universe,' and presents them in (usually) a warm and readable manner, this book simply doesn't inspire like the mentioned work on the immune system. Not only that, but he can't help sliding into politically correct dogma on occasion, a habit that is very distracting to me. The offense is only occasional and mild, but ends up taking something away from the overall credibility a writer must work so hard to gain and maintain.

I did not really enjoy reading this book, though I learned a tidbit or two.

We live in times where people think of the microbial world as the enemy to be defeated at all costs. Almost daily we are accosted by headlines proclaiming the dangers of Avian Flu or Methicillin resistant Staph aureus or MRSA. As a physician, I am called on to lead this charge against these microscopic invaders.

But wait, Callahan says, this relationship between human and microbe is not so simple. We are in fact dependent upon the uncountable microbes that live within us and upon us to keep us healthy. From this book, I learned how important these fellow travelers are for our own normal development. Perhaps our obsession with cleanliness and our excessive use of antibiotics should be reconsidered.

The vast majority of microbes live symbiotically with us. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement. Only a select few seek to destroy us, and that often only by accident, for it is rarely in the best interest of a parasite to destroy its host. Furthermore, our overuse of antibiotics is clearly the main cause of the rise of "superbugs", which can evolve resistance to antibiotics in a matter of days. Should we not consider carefully whether the antibiotics we take or the antibiotics we put into our food supply are not, in the long run, creating more problems than they are solving?

Callahan spells out the complex and often confusing relationship we have with the microcosmos in this well researched and entertaining book. He asks very important questions that we need to consider in our daily lives and in our public health policies.

Read this book and take a thrilling ride into this invisible universe.

This book is well-written and covers the topic, but it lacks that sharp perspective, wit, and new ideas that really great books of this type have. There's not really anything here you couldn't find anywhere else, and presented more in-depth. It reads as rather a quick overview; perhaps I've read so many of these kinds of books that I expect a more focused and in-depth treatment of the subject. I have no complaints about this book and wouldn't tell you not to buy it, but I will tell you that there are better, more interesting ones.