How the Immune System Works 6th Edition (2019) (PDF) by Lauren M. Sompayrac

Description

How the Immune System Works has helped thousands of students understand what’s in their hefty immunology textbooks. In this book, Dr. Sompayrac cuts through the jargon and details to reveal, in simple language, the essence of this complex subject: how the immune system fits together, how it protects us from disease and, perhaps most importantly, why it works the way it does.

Featuring Dr. Sompayrac’s hallmark lively prose and engaging analogies, How the Immune System Works has been rigorously updated for this sixth edition, including the latest information on subjects such as vaccines, immunological memory, and cancer. A highlight of this edition is a new chapter on immunotherapies – currently one of the hottest topics in immunology.

User’s Reviews

HOW THE IMMUNE SYSTEM WORKS SIXTH EDITION How the Immune System Works has helped thousands of students understand what’s in their hefty immunology textbooks. In this book, Dr. Sompayrac cuts through the jargon and details to reveal, in simple language, the essence of this complex subject: how the immune system fits together, how it protects us from disease and, perhaps most importantly, why it works the way it does. Featuring Dr. Sompayrac’s hallmark lively prose and engaging analogies, How the Immune System Works has been rigorously updated for this sixth edition, including the latest information on subjects such as vaccines, immunological memory, and cancer. A highlight of this edition is a new chapter on immunotherapies – currently one of the hottest topics in immunology. Whether you are completely new to immunology, or require a refresher, How the Immune System Works will provide you with a clear and engaging overview of this fascinating subject. REVIEWS OF THE PREVIOUS EDITION “I’d recommend this to everyone. Best book I’ve come across that explains immunology in such a simple yet comprehensive way.” “This is probably one of the clearest and most straightforward and readable medical textbooks that I’ve come across so far.” “This book makes the subject engaging and is not afraid of making the innate immune system exciting and a focal point.” About the Author LAUREN SOMPAYRAC, Retired Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ If you are struggling with a 600 page immunology text, read this summary text first. Sompayrac has brilliantly distilled the essence of immunology in to a readable volume. It strikes me as being the best technical book, on any topic, that I have read. Years ago (1970s), I took a course that used Eisen’s text. I do not know if it was the text, the state of the art of immunology, or my study habits, but I found Eisen to be as incomprehensible as that course’s lectures. Sompayrac is the polar opposite, gin clear with intuitive explanations skillfully fit into a larger framework.Forty years ago immunology was one chapter in a microbiology text. The early courses in immunology were largely about grind and find experiments, how to do research, rather than how immunology works. Newer texts focus less on experimental design and more on mechanisms and actors (which cells do what), but they lose the forest for the trees. That is why I read Sompayrac’s book first. The author, on page ix, urges the reader to quickly read the first 10 chapters several times to get a feel for immunology before delving into details. I heartily agree.Why is immunology so hard to learn? First, immunology touches on numerous other disciplines including biochemistry, molecular biology, cell physiology, microbiology, and medicine so there is a chicken and egg problem. All of these fields use immunological laboratory techniques. So, which do you learn first? Second, the pathways are highly connected. The author is faced with the problem of how to present a phenomenon that is closely coupled to others that the author has yet to introduce.Sompayrac’s book has several huge benefits over a 600 page text: it is exceptionally well organized, the author focuses on concepts and reduces the details to a useful minimum, the author presents helpful teleologies such as why NK cells destroy cells that do not display class I MHC, and lastly the author uses some images from popular culture such as the simile that the secondary lymphoid organs are like “dating services.”How does this book differ from a study guide? The study guides that I perused were packed with a mind-numbing amount of detail. There are refreshers for someone who already knows the material. By comparison, “How the Immune System Works” is at a much higher level of abstraction, an introduction to the topic.In summary, Sompayrac is an exceptional educator.

⭐ The goal of this book was to describe the immune system without getting bogged down in detail. In this regard, the book mostly succeeds. Most immunology texts make it hard to see the forest for the trees.Problem is, the author relies on making his points with cutesy phrases like dating bars, stripteases, chainsaws, and plumbing systems. This stuff is fine at first, but gets increasingly grating and distracting. He also uses quotation marks “constantly,” which gets “very” annoying. By the time I was “partway” through chapter 2, I was already “fed up” with them.There are some contradictions in the text. Example: page 57 says that T cells become single-positive when they bind with an antigen-presenting cell. Page 89 says this happens when they bind with epithelial cells in the thymus. Which one is it? The author also constantly repeats himself, even within a sentence, as though the reader is expected to get halfway through the sentence and forget that it started off talking about T cells. Example on page 89 right, after heading: he repeats the terms T cell tolerance and cell type, as though you have to be constantly reminded that this is what we’re talking about. This problem happens all over the book, and it’s very distracting.Overall: great idea and great level of detail. But: Author, for the next edition, please hire a text editor who can help you get to the point and stay there. Writing is much easier to understand when it’s concise.

⭐ This highly readable, short (145 pages) overview was perfect for my needs. I’m not a student and not a biology professional but instead an interested person with a good background in science who had found the typical layman’s articles on the immune system too sketchy and incomplete. The author provides a thorough review of the immune system without an overwhelming mass of detail. If you are generally familiar with how cells work and what proteins do then you will have no trouble getting an enhanced understanding in a few days of reading. Another reviewer found the constant use of analogies annoying but I found them very useful; they provide a framework for understanding and remembering the fundamental concepts.

⭐ I must admit to being a Ph.D. physicist. This matters only because Lauren Sompayrac, the author ,attended MIT for his B.S. degree in physics in 1963, andPh.D. in elementary particle physics in 1969. I went to Harvard, down the street, Ph.D. 1965. As I read this great book it seemed he was talking to me. Everything was made so clear. My only regret is that I have finished the book and I am now lingering over the glossary!

⭐ Immunology can get complicated…. It’s such a blessing to be able to get a big-picture view when I get stuck in the weeds.It was also a very gentle (but not simplistic) way to get introduced to immunology before I even had the courage to open the covers of Janeway/Abbas. For someone thrown into immunology in graduate school with no previous background, this was nothing short of a life-saver!I legitimately fantasize meeting the author of this book and telling him in person how he carried me through graduate school. Thank you, Mr. Sompayrac.

⭐ I’ve just taken a med school immunology course and this book was my savior. It explains everything so well and uses really quirky analogies that help you remember all the tiny little details. Definitely recommend this if you’re going to be taking an immuno course!

⭐ Amazingly written and awesome graphics! You can tell that she really cares about the subject and has passion for teaching while reading! This is the only “textbook” I’ve actually enjoyed reading!

⭐ Very upset with quality of purchase. I purchased a “New” book. Received book already damaged from improper packaging and shipping. Book has large crease down the middle, and damaged pages on the corners. I would have purchased “used” if I wanted a book in this condition. Otherwise looking forward to reading the content of the book. Highly advise purchasing used.

⭐ This book is great for learning all of the basics of Immunology. It presents it in an easy to understand format with great examples for understanding the concepts. I picked the book up half way through and undergraduate Immunology class i was struggling in and it helped me improve my grade significantly. I would read it before or during the beginning of the semester. It will make learning all of the more complicated concepts much easier.

⭐ Didn’t take immunology in undergrad; this was a priceless primer to the immunology block. Combined with Zanki, one of my highest scores. Short, easy to read, and relatable metaphors.

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