Lauren M. Sompayrac - How the Immune System Works

How to Use This Book

I wrote How the Immune System Works because I couldnt find a book that would give my students an overall view of the immune system. Sure, there are as many good, thick textbooks as a person might have money to buy, but these are crammed with every possible detail. There are also lots of review books that are great if you want a summary of what youve already learned but they wont teach you immunology. What was missing was a short book that tells, in simple language, how the immune system fits together a book that presents the big picture of the immune system, without the jargon and the details.

How the Immune System Works is written in the form of lectures, because I want to talk to you directly, just as if we were together in a classroom. Although Lecture 1 is a light-hearted overview, meant to give you a running start at the subject, youll soon discover that this is not baby immunology. How the Immune System Works is a concept-driven analysis of how the immune system players work together to protect us from disease and why they do it this way.

In Lectures 2 through 10, I focus more closely on the individual players and their roles. These lectures are short, so you probably can read them all in a couple of afternoons. In fact, I strongly suggest that you begin by reading quickly through Lectures . The whole idea is to get an overall view of the subject, and if you read one lecture a week, that wont happen. Dont study these ten lectures your first time through. Dont even bother with the Thought Questions at the end of each lecture. Just rip through them. Then, once you have a feel for the system, go back and spend a bit more time with these same ten lectures to get a clearer understanding of the hows and whys.

In Lectures 1114, I discuss the AIDS virus, vaccines, allergies, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. These lectures will let you practice what you have learned in the earlier lectures by examining real-world examples of the immune system at work. And Lecture 15 A Critique of the Immune System will help you put in full perspective just how wonderful the immune defense really is. So after you have gone through Lectures 110 twice, Id suggest you read these last five lectures. When you do, I think youll be amazed by how much you now understand about the immune system.

In some settings, How the Immune System Works will serve as the main text for the immunology section of a larger course. For a semester-long undergraduate or graduate immunology course, your professor may use this book as a companion to a comprehensive textbook. In this situation, reviewing the appropriate lecture in How the Immune System Works as your course proceeds will help you keep the big picture in focus as the details are filled in. Its really easy to get lost in the details.

No matter how your professor may choose to use this book, you should keep one important point in mind: I didnt write How the Immune System Works for your professor. This book is for you!

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