Product Description
With A Memoir Of The Author. Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:2. Consolidation of the Strata.11. Though Dr Hutton has no where defined the meaning of the term consolidation, he has been scrupulously exact in using it constantly in the same sense. He understands by it, not merely that quality in a hard body, by which its parts cohere together, but also that by which it fills up the space comprehended within its surface, being to sense without porosity, and impervious to air and moisture.Now, a porous mass of unconnected materials, such as the strata appear originally to have been, can acquire hardness and solidity only in two ways, that is, either when it is first reduced by heat into a state of fusion, or at least of softness, and afterwards permitted to cool; or when matter that is dissolved in some fluid menstruum, is introduced along with that menstruum into the porous mass, and, being deposited, forms a cement by which the whole is rendered firm and compact. Fire and water, therefore, are the only two physical agents to which we can ascribe the consolidation of the strata; and, in order to determine to which of them that effect is to be attributed, we must inquire whether there are any certain characters that distinguish the action of the one from that of the other, and which may be compared with the phe-Vol. i. cnomena actually observed among mineral substances.12. First, then, it is evident, that the consolidation produced by the action of water, or of any other fluid menstruum, in the manner just referred to, must necessarily be imperfect, and can never entirely banish the porosity of the mass. For the bulk of the solvent, and of the matter it contained in solution, being greater than the bulk of either taken singly, when the latter was deposited, the former would have sufficient room left, and would continue to oc... ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1819 edition by Archibald Constable and Co., etc., Edinburgh. ... Read more

Product Description
The word germ is defined as 'a microbe that causes disease'. The vast majority of microbes do not infect us at all: it is pathogens that make us ill. These include bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, worms, and prions. Living with Germsnot only looks at all of these in detail, but also at the defense mechanisms by which we come to terms with pathogens, whether by eliminating them, stopping them from eliminating us, or simply learning to live with them. This is the first book to look at the subject of immunology in a relevant and approachable style. Using anecdotal and autobiographical material, John Playfair has produced a lively, well-written, and up-to-date look at immunology. Timely and topical, this will appeal to all those who want to know the facts behind the 'germ' scare stories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Entertaining and accessible
John Playfair has done an excellent job with this book. Through a clever use of analogy and anecdote, he makes immunology understantable without feeling dumbed down. The first example that comes to mind is the MHC - major histocompatibility complex - which move material from the interior of a cell to the surface, allowing other immune cells to see what is going on inside the cell. Playfair describes the MHC as a "molecular haulage contractor", and the concept immediately stuck in my mind.

The book starts out with a reality check. We are primed to think that the microscopic world exists solely to make life miserable for humans. This is perhaps a remnant of the ancient religious idea that diseases are a punishment from God. In fact, microbial life forms are simply trying to survive and reproduce, just like us. Most microbes do not cause humans harm, and some are even beneficial to us. Playfair immediately distinguishes the pathogens, those microbes that cause harm to humans, from the rest of the microbial world. He then explains the major groups of pathogen, the bacteria, the virus, the protozoa and the prion.

Intermingled with the story of the immune system is the story of medical history. Playfair describes the antics, quarrels, and mistakes of the great players in immunology: Koch and Pasteur were colleagues somewhat in the spirit of Leibniz and Newton. Like Newton, Pasteur has become the most famous, certainly I remember learning about his "discovery" of bacteria and invention of Pasteurization in school, yet I can't remember hearing much about Koch. Playfair give us several stories of the two men, including their brave (and sometimes reckless) efforts to protect humanity against anthrax and rabies.

The immune system is a complex subject, and after reading this book you will understand more about why this is so. The system has evolved to fight off the pathogens without destroying the body's own cells, and the pathogens have themselves evolved. This necessarily leads to a series of comprimises, and our defenses against the pathogens are multi-faceted, there is no silver bullet to defeat the germs. This balance can sometimes be subtly or not so subtly wrong, leading to immunodeficiency or auto-immune disease.

Fortunately for most of us, with the help of modern medicine we can expect to beat the pathogens in our own lives. There is a note of optimism in the book, and reading it left me impressed by the ability of our bodies to keep us healthy, mostly without us really noticing. The more depressing topics in infectious disease, such as bird flu and the potential return of smallpox, are discussed briefly, but the book does not dwell on speculation. The section on how flu evolves is quite interesting. Playfair explores why flu remains an ongoing problem and explains the meaning behind the ominous code name HN51 (the dreaded "bird flu"). But in the end, as Playfair notes in his introduction, "If I have a message at all, it is simply that you are bound to get infections from time to time, and you are better off knowing something about what is going on. You can then at least decide what to do on the basis of fact and not fear or fantasy." ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Volume: 1General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1812Original Publisher: Printed by A. Neill ... Read more