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A review by scribepub
Why Aren't We Dead Yet?: The Curious Person's Guide to the Immune System by Idan Ben-Barak
This surprisingly ambitious, eminently accessible book brilliantly summarises the essential features of the immune system for a lay audience. The quirky humour masks an underlying authority and competence. The work is right up to date, even incorporating recent Nobel Prize winning insights into the evolutionarily ancient innate immune system. It is a triumph of popular medical science.
Sir Gustav Nossal, Former Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Council of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Children’s Vaccine Program
An accessible account of a complex and important topic.
Prof. Peter C.Doherty, Nobel Prize Winner
… dotted with pub-worthy facts (two to four pounds of human body weight is made up of microbes) and playful footnotes that make for an accessible and amusing look at the hidden world of ubiquitous microscopic creatures like bacteria, archaea, protists, and viruses. Woven into the humor is a bona fide crash course in parasitology, microbiology, and gene transfer …
Seed
I enjoyed this lighthearted insider’s guide to germs… I’d love to shrink down to microscopic size to see some of the odd lifeforms described in this book.
boingboing.net
A terrific introduction to the complicated beast that keeps us alive.
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Author of Great Mythconceptions
[F]riendly and engaging ... accessible to anyone who's curious about the mechanics of the human body.
The Age
The book is hilarious in a science-nerd kind of way, and the personal notations and anecdotes from Ben-Barak put a real human touch on information that can sometimes come off as clinical and complex.
Adventures in Poor Taste
I loved this book. Ben-Barak assumes the reader starts with no knowledge of the immune system but does not make the further assumption that we’re ignorant. He explains in simple terms but without condescension. He adds liberal doses of humour, often self-deprecating. He writes with an unusual kindness that makes me think he is a kind person, one who would be a lovely dinner guest.
Tonstant Weader Reviews
Sir Gustav Nossal, Former Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Council of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Children’s Vaccine Program
An accessible account of a complex and important topic.
Prof. Peter C.Doherty, Nobel Prize Winner
… dotted with pub-worthy facts (two to four pounds of human body weight is made up of microbes) and playful footnotes that make for an accessible and amusing look at the hidden world of ubiquitous microscopic creatures like bacteria, archaea, protists, and viruses. Woven into the humor is a bona fide crash course in parasitology, microbiology, and gene transfer …
Seed
I enjoyed this lighthearted insider’s guide to germs… I’d love to shrink down to microscopic size to see some of the odd lifeforms described in this book.
boingboing.net
A terrific introduction to the complicated beast that keeps us alive.
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Author of Great Mythconceptions
[F]riendly and engaging ... accessible to anyone who's curious about the mechanics of the human body.
The Age
The book is hilarious in a science-nerd kind of way, and the personal notations and anecdotes from Ben-Barak put a real human touch on information that can sometimes come off as clinical and complex.
Adventures in Poor Taste
I loved this book. Ben-Barak assumes the reader starts with no knowledge of the immune system but does not make the further assumption that we’re ignorant. He explains in simple terms but without condescension. He adds liberal doses of humour, often self-deprecating. He writes with an unusual kindness that makes me think he is a kind person, one who would be a lovely dinner guest.
Tonstant Weader Reviews