Immune

A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive

De: Philipp Dettmer

Narrado por: Steve Taylor

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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)

One of the best science books of the year.

Immune is one of the best science books of the year. Clear – – as immunology can be – – narrated very well and very engaging. Highly recommended. I would only add that the audiobook version does not include PDF files of the very helpful diagrams and illustrations.

I am 11 I love this

So good
:) o o o o o o o. O o o o o o o the to in me

WOW

I wish more people would listen to this book especially now. I can’t tell you how many utterly STUPID things people said to me about Coronavirus over the past 2 years. One lady told me it was not a virus but a parasite.
Thank you for restoring my confidence in my Microbiology prof. I thought this book was so engaging and informative I would recommend it to anyone who can focus for more than 10 seconds. Again thank you.

A well written overview of the immune system

The narrator is really great and the author provided a fun way to learn about immunity.

With Steve Taylor's narration,

it's like a very extended Kurzgesagt presentation. Should be required reading, during the pandemic.

This book rocks!

If you are a fan of Kurzgesagt the YouTube channel, then u know this book was going to be good. I thought I knew a lot of the immune system, turn out, I wasn't even scratching the surface. The narrator is awesome and the writing is so digestible and makes understanding a complex topic infinitely easier to understand. Do your self a favor and read this book. Thank you Philipp Dettmer for deciding to write this book, the first of many more... I hope. Lol.

A must listen

What can I say about Kurzgesagt that you probably don't already know? It's very easy to digest and gives you a much better understanding of how our immune system works in way that is engaging, entertaining, and educational.

I love this book

this book has made me fall in love with the immune system, the creator is knowledgeable and points out things that can be different and turns complexity into easy to digest

Colorful appreciation of Our Human Body

A fantastic, colorful, and absorbing appreciation of the complexity of our immune systems! The book was fascinating because it reduced the complexity of our human systems to a rough and tumble description of the good guys in our immune system to all the organisms that would do us harm. No need for big complex verbiage. Worth listening to if just for the delivery of the narrator.

Best science book in years! Dramatic war story.

I absolutely loved and reveled in this amazing book, which so clearly, with great drama and humor, gives a stunning overview of the complex topic of immunology! I had no idea or memory of most of this stuff or what a dramatic war happens daily in our bodies!

I've never seen a book with such painstaking care to avoid jargon, speak in plain language, and give amusing analogies for each immune cell and process for non-science people.

This book will be ideal and riveting for any curious layman with no science background. Immunology was one of the toughest topics I studied as a pre-med, but this book clarifies subtle details so well, with humor, imagination, and a dramatic story, that I feel a much stronger intuitive understanding of our immune system now!

Plus I love how it dives into practical, newsworthy, social worries like COVID, vaccines, inflammation, cancer, HIV, stress, and nutrition and how all affect our immune systems. We're much better armed to teach friends and family about how to act and view health news after this book!

Thank you, Philipp Dettmer, for your beautiful, wonderful, extremely clear and riveting book and for making your equally fantastic Kurzgesagt YouTube videos! Narrator Steve Taylor was also fantastic, inspiring, and riveting.

Please read this gem and tell all your friends to read it and watch the Kurzgesagt YouTube channel!