becoming more educated

[zach]

i wasn't really sure where to put this, mods feel free to move it around as needed.

i'm a fairly bright boy, but the truth is i don't understand most of the biology of hiv/aids. i've watched how to survive a plague a few times now, and one of the things that struck me was a line "we became experts, because we had to"

this board is a great resource for learning a piece at a time, but is there a book that would take me from where i'm at (passed biology) to a much better understanding of whats going on? i'm not looking to become a name in the field or anything unrealistic, just to know myself better. its obvious some of you are extremely knowledgeable and at times i have found myself wondering if you all educated yourselves, and how. i'll be honest, when i try to read some of the studies, its little more than greek to me. i would really like to be able to understand more

[Jmarksto]

Zack;  Check out the Khan Academy educational videos on immunology if you haven't already.

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/immunology

Also, I think Oksikoko (I haven't seen him around lately, I hope he is ok) was taking an open course (www.ocwconsortium.org) on HIV that sounded good.

Best,
JM

[Mishma]

I recommend the book we used with our first year medical students. Yeah Immunology is difficult but the book makes learning it fun (I'm a geek) with the aid of hundreds of examples, illustrations, photos and charts. It works as a reference book too so you don't necessarily have to read it straight through. I would however recommend you read the first chapters for their excellent overview. 

Cellular and Molecular Immunology: Abul K. Abbas, Andrew H. Lichtman, Shiv Pillai, 7th Edition (the last copy I have). ISBN: 978-1-4377-1528-6

[zach]

thanks for the links and suggestions. the khan course is awesome