In continuing our previous post on Life Sciences in the Science for Everyone series, we now come to a book on human physiology and our bodily defense mechanisms against all external threats that is immunology. This one is called Me or Not Me by R. V. Petrov. As the title suggests the book explain the fundamentals of how our health is maintained and body functions.

In the preface of the book the author says:

Every particle of our body must bear an identification sign, or “tag”, saying ‘this is me’. If something does not have such a sign, or if the tag is foreign, tho particle would be saying: ‘this is not me’ Everything ‘other than me’ is destroyed by the immune system. I have compared two types of individuality spiritual and bodily to show tho all embracing significance of immunology, and the complexity and intricacy of the immune system. Only the future will reveal whether the mechanisms of the brain and the immune system are similar. This book has grown out of a booklet called Talks on New Immunology which was published in 1976 as a part of the “Eureka” series. The talks have been expanded in volume and their form revised in an effort to convey to the reader the huge volume of scientific information that has been accumulated by a young science of immunology.

The book was translated from the Russian by G. Yu. Degtyaryova and was first published by Mir in 1987.

Update Jan 2020

The Internet Archive Link

Following are the contents of the book:

Two Types of Individuality (In lieu of an introduction) 8

The Classics and the Modern
The Costs of the Apollo Programme
Affiliated with Genetics
Why So Strict?
Club “Under the Integral Sign”
Immunology and Space

The Fathers of Immunology 41

Edward Jenner
Louis Pasteur
Ilya Mechnikov and Paul Ehrlich

The Army of Immunity 56

The Soldiers and the Weapons
The Construction of the Basic Weapons
Specialized Troops-Lymphocytes
Killer Lymphocytes

Just Discovered And Not Yet Discovered Islands 74
The Organ in the-Organ
How the Thymus Was Discovered Anew
The Search for Moby Dick
The Art of Discovery
T-, B Cooperation
Helpers and Suppressors
Double Recognition

The Dictatorship of the Lymphocyte 99
Stem Cell-What Is It?
Lymphocyte Versus Stem Cell
Changing the Formula 60 : 30: 5

The Molecular Messengers of Immunity 110
Structure and Function 110
The Century of Mediators 111
Mediators of the Immune System 114
Thymosine, AFT-6 117
A Stimulant of Antibody Producers-SAP 119

Non-Infectious Immunology and Tissue Compatibility 123

Non-Infectious Immunology 123
Jules Bordot and Nikolai Chislovich 128
Alexis Carrel and Emmerich Ulman 13)
Peter Medawar and Emil Holman 141

Blood Transfusion and Pregnancy 143

A Stamp in a Passport 143
Karl Landsteiner 144
Female Rh-, Male Rh + 150
A Disease Eradicated by Immunology 153

Individuality and Crime Detection 156

Antigen Kaleidoscopes 156
Immunologists Follow After Holmes (A Modest Imitation) 162
Ruling aut the Paternity 167

Individuality is – Above All: All Alien Is Alien 171

Once Again Remembering Carrel 171
Medical Watergate 178
What Does It Mean-Killer? 183
Self-Reproduction of Killers 185
Allogenic Inhibition, or the Atmosphere of
Hostility 188
Lymphocytes “Hit the Core” 191
The Nobel Prize of 1980 195

The Age of Organ Transplantation 201

Milan Hasek 201
Again Peter Medawar 206
The Successes of Kidney Transplants 212
Eurotransplant 219
Heart Transplantation-Myth or Reality? 225
The Prospects for Grafting Various Organs 232

Congenital Defects and Old Age 237

Primary Immuno deficiencies 237
Types of Immune System Defects 243
Diagnosis of Immunity Disturbances 249
Immune Engineering 254
What Happens in Old Age? 259

Immunity Against Cancer 265

Lev Zilber. Cancer Antigens and Oncogenes 265
This Double-Faced Anticancer Protection 269
NK-Natural Killers 274
Why Is Immunity Ineffective Against Cancer? 275
How Can Anticancer Immunity Be Stimulated? 279
Vaccines Against Cancer 283

Allergy and Other Slips of Immunity 287

Prevention Upside Down 287
Class E Antibodies 291
Crazy Immunity 296

Immune Biotechnology 300

A Recognition Machine 300
A Technological Chain 302
Highest Precision Reagents 304
The Cancer Cell for Peaceful Purposes 307

Vaccines of the Future 311

Principles Underlying Artificial Vaccines 311
Synthetic Polyelectrolytes Perform the Functions of T-Helpers 315
Assembling of Antigens on Polyelectrolytcs 321
Loop on the Carrier 324
Vaccines Free From Ballast 326

Theory and Learning 328

Burnet Versus Burnet 328
Immunological Meadow 334
Immunological Mobiles 339
Mathematical Models 345
Where Do Immunologists Come From? 350
The Union of Immunological Societies 353
Learn to Stick to a Goal 364