The network paradigm once dominated immunological research and even garnered its originator a Nobel Prize. It has since been criticized and largely abandoned. This book is a firsthand account of the network paradigm’s rise and fall.

The network paradigm dominated immunological research from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. The originator, Niels Jerne, hypothesized that the vast diversity of antibodies in each individual forms a network of mutual "idiotypic" recognition, thus regulating the immune system. In context of emerging concepts of systems biology such as cybernetics and autopoesis, the "Eigenbehavior" of the immune system fascinated an entire generation of young immunologists. But fascination led to experimental errors and overinterpretation, eventually magnifying the immune system from a mere infection-fighting device to a substrate of personality and individuality. As a result, what initially appeared as an exciting new perspective of the immune system is now viewed as a scientific vagary, and is largely abandoned.

The author, himself a participant in the network vagary, begins with a description of the leading theoretical concepts on fact finding in science. This is followed by a historical account of the rise and fall of the network paradigm, complemented by personal interviews with some of the prominent protagonists. By comparing the network paradigm to other, more lasting concepts in life science, the author develops a general perspective on how solid knowledge is derived from error-prone scientific methodology, namely by exposure of scientific notions to the scrutiny of reality.

The network paradigm dominated immunological research from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. The originator was Niels Jerne, who shared the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with G. Köhler and C. Milstein for his brilliant theories in immunology.

Jerne hypothesized that the vast diversity of antibodies present in each individual form a network by mutual "idiotypic" recognition, thus regulating the immune system.

By making the connection from this postulated "Eigenbehavior" to emerging concepts in systems biology including cybernetics, the network theory opened a whole new way of looking at the immune system, thus elevating immunology onto a higher intellectual level.

Eventually, with the advent of exact scientific technologies, the network paradigm became subject to criticism and is now largely abandoned.

This book is a first hand historical account of the rise and fall of the network paradigm, describing the main laboratories in the field with their scientific contributions, ways of experimenting and thinking. The description of the scientific aspects is complemented by personal interviews with most of the prominent protagonists and antagonists, disclosing their retrospective views on the network paradigm.