Tending Adam's Garden (eBook)

Evolving the Cognitive Immune Self

Irun R. Cohen (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2000 | 1. Auflage
296 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-0-08-054233-1 (ISBN)

Infos

Tending Adam's Garden describes and explains the way in which our immune system works from a novel perspective. The book uses metaphors and examples to bring the immune system to life and explores the fundamental miracle of nature. Written in plain language for a broad audience, this book encompasses much more than just immunology, exploring more fundamental matters such as causality, information, energy, evolution, cognition and individuality, as well as the strategy of the immune system and its role in health and disease. - Provides a unique perspective on the immune system from one of the keenest scientific and philosophical brains in the world - Uses metaphors and case histories to explore themes in an accessible manner - Written in plain language requiring no specialized vocabulary or specific scientific background in the subject

Dr. Irun R. Cohen studied philosophy at Northwestern University (B.A., 1959) and medicine at Northwestern Medical School (MD., 1963). He did pediatric training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and research in infectious diseases as a commissioned officer of the U.S. Public Health Service at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, Dr. Cohen is the Director of the Robert Koch-Minerva Center for Research in Autoimmune Diseases, at the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel, and the Director of the Center for the Study of Emerging Diseases, in Jerusalem, Israel. He has published numerous scientific journal articles and edited or co-authored 4 books.

Inhalt

Front Cover 1
Tending Adam's Garden: Evolving the Cognitive Immune Self 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 12
About the Author 8
From the Pre-publication Quotes 9
Prologue 14
Chapter 1. Introduction 22
On Individuality 24
Chapter 2. On Causality and Evolution 28
Causality 30
Emergence 48
Evolution 61
Comparative Summary of Evolution 71
Chapter 3. On Cognition 76
Defining a Cognitive System 78
Decisions 85
Cognitive Images 91
Self-organization 103
The Cognitive Strategy 112
Comparative Summary of Cognition 115
Chapter 4. On Immunity 122
Immune Agents: Basic Briefing 124
Maintenance 139
Receptors 146
Degeneracy, Pleiotropia, Redundancy, Randomness 159
Geometry of Immune Cognition and Co-respondence 170
Dynamics of Immune Cognition 187
Self-organization of Immune Cognition 193
Images and Patterns of Immune Cognition 195
Cognitive Decision-making 202
Comparative Summary of Immunity 210
Chapter 5. On Autoimmunity 216
Clonal Selection Theory Viewpoint 218
Organization of Autoimmunity 221
Utility of Autoimmunity 233
Causation of Autoimmune Disease 240
Therapy of Autoimmune Disease 249
Autoimmunity is of the Essence 257
Comparative Summary of Autoimmunity 258
Chapter 6. On Tending Adam's Garden 262
Adam 264
Tending the Garden 268
References 278
Index 280

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 28.1.2000
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
• Themenwelt: Studium ► 1. Studienabschnitt (Vorklinik) ► Physiologie
• Themenwelt: Studium ► Querschnittsbereiche ► Infektiologie / Immunologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Zoologie
• Themenwelt: Technik
• ISBN-10: 0-08-054233-6 / 0080542336
• ISBN-13: 978-0-08-054233-1 / 9780080542331