About the Author

Peter Bretscher comes from a scientific family, and met scientists as a kid who, he later realized, were giants of their fields. As a teen, he became interested in philosophy and scientific theories. He became committed to explore whether he himself might have the gifts to contribute to science. He studied physics at Cambridge University, and gained his PhD at the Cambridge Laboratory of Molecular Biology in 1968. Here, he became immersed, “on the side”, in immunology, and discussed his ideas with Francis Crick. Francis gave him advice on fostering his career. He became an immunologist, making both theoretical and experimental contributions over more than 50 years. Whilst in the intensive care unit, in 2006, recovering from a heart attack, he resolved to write this book. The heritage of the scientific spirit, he felt, had been undermined in recent decades.   

 

He has recently written two books on immunology, Rediscovering the Immune System as an Integrated Organ and The Foundations of Immunology and Their Pertinence to Medicine (both FriesenPress, 2016).