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A history of immunology
Journal oflmmunologicalMethods, 127 (1990) 149-150
149
Elsevier JIM05476
Book review Silverstein, A.M., A History of Immunology, XXII + 422 pp., illus. Academic Press, San Diego, 1989. $39.95 ISBN 0-12-643770-X The author, an experienced immunologist, states in the preface that the expression a history in the title implies that the book reflects his personal approach to the subject matter which is arranged not in a strict chronologic order, but in conceptual threads considered by him most important and traced longitudinally in time. Thus each chapter may be read independently of the others, but 'taken together they should present a fairly complete intellectual history of the discipline of immunology'. The main motivation for writing this book was the author's wish to correct the lack of historical perspective shown nowadays by many young immunologists who are inclined to believe that 'the entire history of immunology could be found within the last five years' issues of the most widely read journals'. Accordingly the book is aimed primarily at providing students with a better understanding of the historical background of today's immunology. The text consists of 12 chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the past theories of acquired immunity since the ancient origin of this concept as an adaptation to poisons, through the mediaeval view that the first attack of disease expels it from the body, the 16th century idea of purgation through contagion excretion, the iatrophysical theory of morbid matter escaping through the skin pores, Pasteur's and von Nencki's postulates of depleted bacterial nutrients and retained inhibitors respectively, to Von Behring's formulation of the adaptation theory linked to his diphtheria immunity studies in 1890. Chapter 2 describes, on the basis of available records, the introduction of smallpox vaccination to England by Lady Montagu in the early 18th century. Chapter 3 is concerned with the conflict between the adherents of the cellular vs. humoral mechanisms of immunity to infection, fought out in Western Europe in the second half of 19th century. The background of this conflict is
outlined, with Metchnikoff and his French colleagues espousing the protective role of phagocytes on one side, and Koch and other advocates of the dependence of antibacterial immunity on serum antibodies on the other. The ensuing debate is presented within the context of then existing Franco-German animosities and the impact of the 'humoralist' victory on the subsequent direction of research analysed. Chapter 4 discusses theories of antibody formation from Buchner's antigen transformation hypothesis and Ehrlich's side-chain theory, through the instruction theories of Haurowitz et al. and Pauling, to Bumet's adaptive enzyme and Burnet and Fermer's indirect template theories, Jerne's natural selection theory, and the clonal selection theory of Burnet, Talmage, and Lederberg. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with immunological specificity. The origin of this concept is traced to the iatrochemical approach to disease and the notion of specific therapy; its further development is shown to have been influenced by progress in chemistry, particularly the knowledge of enzyme action on the substrate as expressed in Fischer's 'lock and key' metaphor and the analogous Ehrlich's model for toxin-antitoxin interaction. Later stages involve Landsteiner's work on serological reactions to hapten-protein conjugates with structure-related cross-reactivity, Heidelberger's identification of type-specific pneumococcal polysaccharides, Pauling's hapten inhibition studies, direct measurement of hapten-antibody interaction by the equilibrium dialysis procedure of Eisen and Karush, Kabat's determination of the size of antibody combining site, Edelman's description of Ig functional domains, Wu and Kabat's localization of the hypervariable regions of Ig light and heavy chains, and finally the recent studies on the nature of T cell receptors. Chapter 7 is devoted to autoimmunity, starting from Ehrlich's horror autotoxicus concept and Donath and Landsteiner's discovery of the pathogenesis of paroxysmal cold haemoglobinuria, followed by studies on the anti-lens protein autoantibodies and the mechanism of sympathetic ophthalmia
0022-1759/90/$03.50 © 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)
150 (Silverstein's own field of interest). This chapter also considers the discovery of acquired immune tolerance by Billingham, Brent and Medawar, subsequent studies on the cellular basis of tolerance, and the experimental and clinical findings regarding single- and multiple-organ autoimmune diseases. The linguistic aspects of a dispute arising from Donath-Landsteiner's discovery are considered in depth in chapter 8. Chapter 9 reviews the developments in allergy and immunopathology research from the early observations on asthma and hay fever, the original description of the Arthus reaction, and Von Pirquet's mechanism for serum sickness to Landsteiner and Chase's demonstration of the cellular basis of delayed hypersensitivity and the recent advances in the understanding of immunodeficiency disorders. Chapter 10 presents the history of anti-antibody problem beginning with the independent studies of Bordet and Ehrlich on anti-haemolysin antibodies and Besredka's evidence for normal regulatory antihaemolytic autoanti-antibodies, followed by the demise of anti-antibody theories and their revival in the 1950s in Milgrom and Dubiski's characterization of rheumatoid factors, and later by the recognition of idiotypes and anti-idiotypic antibodies culminating in Jerne's network theory. Chapter 11 discusses the main achievements in transplantation and immunogenetics including the first successful human corneal graft in 1906, CarreU's experimental limb and organ auto- and aUografts, Loeb's studies on the genetic basis of the individuality of tissues, Medawar's skin graft experiments on a burn victim during World War II followed by allograft studies in rabbits, Owen's finding of the natural immune tolerance between non-identical
cattle twins, the advent of immunosuppressive therapy, tissue typing and compatibility matching, and the identification of histocompatibility and immune response genes. Finally Chapter 12 surveys briefly the uses of antibody in immunotherapy, immunodiagnosis, antigen detection and localization, taxonomy, anthropology, and forensic pathology recorded in the past 100 years. The text is followed by three appendices containing' the calendar of immunological progress' (three epochs, seminal discoveries 1714-1975, important books 1892-1968), Nobel prize highlights in immunology, and a biographical dictionary. A helpful glossary with definitions of terms and the name and subject indices close the volume. The illustrations include portraits of prominent immunologists and schematic representations of some of the concepts discussed. The author admits that his preoccupation with concepts may have been at the expense of factual record. Indeed the text shows some gaps in the account of contemporary developments. For example, synthetic antigens are mentioned only in connection with their use in demonstrating the genetic control of immune response while nothing is said about their applications in studying the molecular basis of irnmunogenicity and in preparing antiviral vaccines. Furthermore the field of thymic hormones is ignored except for a remark on the T-cell activation with thymosin in nonspecific tumour immunotherapy. However such omissions diminish neither the intellectual value of this book nor the insight it offers in the evolution of scientific thought. F. BOREK
149
Elsevier JIM05476
Book review Silverstein, A.M., A History of Immunology, XXII + 422 pp., illus. Academic Press, San Diego, 1989. $39.95 ISBN 0-12-643770-X The author, an experienced immunologist, states in the preface that the expression a history in the title implies that the book reflects his personal approach to the subject matter which is arranged not in a strict chronologic order, but in conceptual threads considered by him most important and traced longitudinally in time. Thus each chapter may be read independently of the others, but 'taken together they should present a fairly complete intellectual history of the discipline of immunology'. The main motivation for writing this book was the author's wish to correct the lack of historical perspective shown nowadays by many young immunologists who are inclined to believe that 'the entire history of immunology could be found within the last five years' issues of the most widely read journals'. Accordingly the book is aimed primarily at providing students with a better understanding of the historical background of today's immunology. The text consists of 12 chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the past theories of acquired immunity since the ancient origin of this concept as an adaptation to poisons, through the mediaeval view that the first attack of disease expels it from the body, the 16th century idea of purgation through contagion excretion, the iatrophysical theory of morbid matter escaping through the skin pores, Pasteur's and von Nencki's postulates of depleted bacterial nutrients and retained inhibitors respectively, to Von Behring's formulation of the adaptation theory linked to his diphtheria immunity studies in 1890. Chapter 2 describes, on the basis of available records, the introduction of smallpox vaccination to England by Lady Montagu in the early 18th century. Chapter 3 is concerned with the conflict between the adherents of the cellular vs. humoral mechanisms of immunity to infection, fought out in Western Europe in the second half of 19th century. The background of this conflict is
outlined, with Metchnikoff and his French colleagues espousing the protective role of phagocytes on one side, and Koch and other advocates of the dependence of antibacterial immunity on serum antibodies on the other. The ensuing debate is presented within the context of then existing Franco-German animosities and the impact of the 'humoralist' victory on the subsequent direction of research analysed. Chapter 4 discusses theories of antibody formation from Buchner's antigen transformation hypothesis and Ehrlich's side-chain theory, through the instruction theories of Haurowitz et al. and Pauling, to Bumet's adaptive enzyme and Burnet and Fermer's indirect template theories, Jerne's natural selection theory, and the clonal selection theory of Burnet, Talmage, and Lederberg. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with immunological specificity. The origin of this concept is traced to the iatrochemical approach to disease and the notion of specific therapy; its further development is shown to have been influenced by progress in chemistry, particularly the knowledge of enzyme action on the substrate as expressed in Fischer's 'lock and key' metaphor and the analogous Ehrlich's model for toxin-antitoxin interaction. Later stages involve Landsteiner's work on serological reactions to hapten-protein conjugates with structure-related cross-reactivity, Heidelberger's identification of type-specific pneumococcal polysaccharides, Pauling's hapten inhibition studies, direct measurement of hapten-antibody interaction by the equilibrium dialysis procedure of Eisen and Karush, Kabat's determination of the size of antibody combining site, Edelman's description of Ig functional domains, Wu and Kabat's localization of the hypervariable regions of Ig light and heavy chains, and finally the recent studies on the nature of T cell receptors. Chapter 7 is devoted to autoimmunity, starting from Ehrlich's horror autotoxicus concept and Donath and Landsteiner's discovery of the pathogenesis of paroxysmal cold haemoglobinuria, followed by studies on the anti-lens protein autoantibodies and the mechanism of sympathetic ophthalmia
0022-1759/90/$03.50 © 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)
150 (Silverstein's own field of interest). This chapter also considers the discovery of acquired immune tolerance by Billingham, Brent and Medawar, subsequent studies on the cellular basis of tolerance, and the experimental and clinical findings regarding single- and multiple-organ autoimmune diseases. The linguistic aspects of a dispute arising from Donath-Landsteiner's discovery are considered in depth in chapter 8. Chapter 9 reviews the developments in allergy and immunopathology research from the early observations on asthma and hay fever, the original description of the Arthus reaction, and Von Pirquet's mechanism for serum sickness to Landsteiner and Chase's demonstration of the cellular basis of delayed hypersensitivity and the recent advances in the understanding of immunodeficiency disorders. Chapter 10 presents the history of anti-antibody problem beginning with the independent studies of Bordet and Ehrlich on anti-haemolysin antibodies and Besredka's evidence for normal regulatory antihaemolytic autoanti-antibodies, followed by the demise of anti-antibody theories and their revival in the 1950s in Milgrom and Dubiski's characterization of rheumatoid factors, and later by the recognition of idiotypes and anti-idiotypic antibodies culminating in Jerne's network theory. Chapter 11 discusses the main achievements in transplantation and immunogenetics including the first successful human corneal graft in 1906, CarreU's experimental limb and organ auto- and aUografts, Loeb's studies on the genetic basis of the individuality of tissues, Medawar's skin graft experiments on a burn victim during World War II followed by allograft studies in rabbits, Owen's finding of the natural immune tolerance between non-identical
cattle twins, the advent of immunosuppressive therapy, tissue typing and compatibility matching, and the identification of histocompatibility and immune response genes. Finally Chapter 12 surveys briefly the uses of antibody in immunotherapy, immunodiagnosis, antigen detection and localization, taxonomy, anthropology, and forensic pathology recorded in the past 100 years. The text is followed by three appendices containing' the calendar of immunological progress' (three epochs, seminal discoveries 1714-1975, important books 1892-1968), Nobel prize highlights in immunology, and a biographical dictionary. A helpful glossary with definitions of terms and the name and subject indices close the volume. The illustrations include portraits of prominent immunologists and schematic representations of some of the concepts discussed. The author admits that his preoccupation with concepts may have been at the expense of factual record. Indeed the text shows some gaps in the account of contemporary developments. For example, synthetic antigens are mentioned only in connection with their use in demonstrating the genetic control of immune response while nothing is said about their applications in studying the molecular basis of irnmunogenicity and in preparing antiviral vaccines. Furthermore the field of thymic hormones is ignored except for a remark on the T-cell activation with thymosin in nonspecific tumour immunotherapy. However such omissions diminish neither the intellectual value of this book nor the insight it offers in the evolution of scientific thought. F. BOREK