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Book Reviews

Immunology A Short course, 4th edition
by Eli Benjamini, Geoffrey Sunshine, Sidney Leskowitz
Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated, February 2000

Immunology has been in the center stage of intensive efforts made by researchers around the globe and thus not surprisingly is one of the dynamically changing fields. This perhaps is one of the reasons that students find themselves overwhelmed with the choice of books. While many of these books present one with the minute details thus improving the understanding, few books would come handy if one is looking for short crisp and clear study material, as is always the case before examination. In my opinion authors have done a splendid job in packaging the relevant material in a concise and palatable manner. Students looking to cover the subject extensively without going into the intricate details would find the book especially helpful. The purpose of this book is to simplify immunology for the medical student yet it is well suited for advanced undergraduate biology students.‘Immunology: a short course’ was written with the objective of providing an overview of the field. Consistent with the theme, the fundamentals of immunology are presented with an emphasis on the cellular and molecular basis of immunity, immunization and immune response; cells and organs involved in immunity, immune mechanisms, biological properties of immunoglobulins, isotype switching, antigen-antibody response, various reactions, tests, immunoassays and clinical immunology. The positive side of the book is its compactness since it is packaged with only the relevant materials emphasizing the aspects that are most important, necessary and sufficient for a college student for all practical purposes. The book earns another plus in providing concise summaries and carefully crafted review questions and answers after the end of each chapter. Therefore a student would be able to scale his understanding. If you are looking for in-depth understanding, this book may not be the best choice. On the flip side, the book lacks on illustrations. Without the aid of supporting figures, concepts at some instances are hard to grasp. The section dealing with clinical immunology is weak on immuno-pathology. In addition, clinical aspect of the immunological disorders could have been better addressed. I would have preferred to see more figures in each of the chapters. The book also lacks the required thrust in the areas of mucosal immunology, immunologic regulatory mechanisms, and other current concepts essential to understanding from a physicians point of view. In addition, I believe many areas of immunology have been over simplified. In-spite of these draw backs this book is an excellent guide for a student of advanced undergraduate biology course.

Review by kbachhawat

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