ABSTRACT
The metamorphosis of immunology from a curiosity of medicine associated with vaccination to a modern science focused at the center of basic research in molecular medicine is chronicled in the following pages. The people and events that led to this development are no less fascinating than the subject itself. A very great number of researchers in many diverse areas of medicine and science contributed to building the body of knowledge we now possess. It will be possible to name only a few, but we owe a debt to them all. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, and in remembering their achievements we come to understand better the richness of our inheritance.
