Immune

A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive

By: Philipp Dettmer

Narrated by: Steve Taylor

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

A deep dive into the immune system that will forever change how you think about your body, from the creator of the popular science YouTube channel Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell.

“Through wonderful analogies and a genius for clarifying complex ideas, Immune is a truly brilliant introduction to the human body’s vast system for fighting infections and other threats.” (John Green, number one New York Times best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars)

You wake up and feel a tickle in your throat. Your head hurts. You’re mildly annoyed as you get the kids ready for school and dress for work yourself. Meanwhile, an epic war is being fought, just below your skin. Millions are fighting and dying for you to be able to complain as you head out the door.

So what, exactly, is your immune system?

Second only to the human brain in its complexity, it is one of the oldest and most critical facets of life on Earth. Without it, you would die within days. In Immune, Philipp Dettmer, the brains behind the most popular science channel on YouTube, takes listeners on a journey through the fortress of the human body and its defenses. There is a constant battle of staggering scale raging within us, full of stories of invasion, strategy, defeat, and noble self-sacrifice. In fact, in the time you’ve been reading this, your immune system has probably identified and eradicated a cancer cell that started to grow in your body.

Each chapter delves into an element of the immune system, including defenses like antibodies and inflammation as well as threats like bacteria, allergies, and cancer, as Dettmer reveals why boosting your immune system is actually nonsense, how parasites sneak their way past your body’s defenses, how viruses work, and what goes on in your wounds when you cut yourself.

Enlivened by immersive descriptions, Immune turns one of the most intricate, interconnected, and confusing subjects - immunology - into a gripping adventure through an astonishing alien landscape. Immune is a vital and remarkably fun crash course in what is arguably, and increasingly, the most important system in the body.

©2021 Philipp Dettmer (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Immune is science communication at its most lucid and exhilarating, a tour de force of demystification. Dettmer maintains an intimate relationship with the reader while revealing the Homeric dramas that routinely unfold within us. It has a vivid clarity that never comes at the expense of the science — or the wonder, as if an entire scientific field had been translated into human.” (Ann Druyan, author of Cosmos: Possible Worlds)

“Philipp Dettmer has a unique skill to show us the beauty and complexity of our world as it is revealed through a scientific understanding of it. In Immune he takes us on a tour through our own body and allows us to see and understand how our immune system actually works. A beautiful book about a complex system that our life depends on.” (Max Roser, founder of Our World in Data)

“Immune reads like it’s a riveting sci-fi novel, as Philipp Dettmer takes you on a journey into the body for an up-close look at the armies of expert warriors, rogue gladiators, and stealthy detectives that protect you in the daily war against trillions of ruthless microbe enemies. By the end of the book, I understood my entire body far better than I ever had before. Immune is a delightful treat for the curious.” (Tim Urban, creator of Wait But Why)

“Bringing both insight and humor to an important and relevant topic, Dettmer’s book is essential reading, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Library Journal)

gotta learn more!

great book, helps you understand enough to admire the immune system. leaves you wanting to know more details.

Superb Intro to What Our Immune System is all Abou

Good intro to an important and challenging subject. Clearly written and entertaining. A real sense of humor helped get through the denser sections.

One of the best

Amazing book! It's super engaging and informative and it changed the way I view pathophysiology.

Absolutely entertaining and educational!

The way the author explains such a complex system is visually appealing, informational, but most importantly, humorous! Highly recommend!!! I wish I could give more stars!

immune system explained to everyday terms.

Very good book. It explains the immune system so anybody can understand. The narrator is also excellent.

Phil and Steve Crushed this audio book

You'll probably have to listen to it at least twice. but it's lots of fun, so totally doable.

Thoughtful and comprehensive

It is hard to be anything but positive about dettmer's work. Thoughtful with attempts to explain and relate knowledge were .. appreciated. Listening to technical explanations is harder than in print! The book seemed comprehensive and balanced. I always detest when writers complain about astrology as the more we find about tides impacting plants and people, we realize that conjecture from scientists is still.. conjecture. The importance of balanced immune systems means that proper supplementation is just that .. proper supplementation : vitamin d3, iodine are included in that. Being explanatory and comedic is good, attempts at comprehensive is good, but it is more important yo state what you know than guess at what you don't.

Important, yet overlooked, stuff of our world.

Very, very well done. Narration, amount of detail, and comparisons made to our human size world made Immune a purchase that was well worth it. It’s still complex, but I’ve never read anything on the uber-complex immune system that was as understandable as this book.

Brilliant, Easy-to-Understand, Engaging, A+++

Immune is a brilliant, easy-to-understand, and engaging trip inside the complex system inside us keeping us alive. Just like the wildly popular videos on the YouTube channel, In A Nutshell, this book is even narrated by the same actor as the videos.

Although the audiobook lacks the beautiful pictures of the print edition, the storyline is so descriptive and illustrative, and the narration is so enthralling that you can easily close your eyes and visualize the story in your mind as it unfolds in your ears.

I definitely recommend this book if you are interested in science, biology, health, disease or your own body and how to get the most out of life.

You will undoubtedly cherish and return to this title many times for years to come finding that each listen illuminates stuff you missed in previous listens and deepens and further colors the story you've listened to many times before.

Seriously well entertaining science

The author does a fantastic job with fun analogies and renaming hard to follow names. The reader is the same as from the videos and does a fantastic job as well. Overall this is one of the best books I have ever read. I had no idea how complex the immune system was.