This book is written in Romanian and it is consequently assumed that without a translation into one’s own language (if you do not read Romanian) the text would be of little value. That may not be the case, since a 12‐page summary is provided for English language readers and the extensive bibliography of some 536 references consists of a large number of English entries. Indeed, for the scientist in a hurry, the summary and the reference list may suffice. In addition, each of the chapters is summarised in English with the main points clearly highlighted.
Scientists working in the medical fields, and biocyberneticians will find much of interest in this presentation. After an introductory chapter that outlines the role of information in relation to many important topics the author provides chapters that deal in depth with: Health as the outcome of regulation processes; The basic needs of the human body; The need for information; The role of redundancy; The human body as a communication system; Specialisation of the organs; The nervous system as an informational organ; The impact of information on the human body; The pathogenetic role of information; The protection means against information. These 12 chapters are then followed by a discussion of Informational Stress (Chapter 13) where the idea of stress, its description, the types of stress, and, among others, its clinical manifestations are given. He also discusses the “cybernetic mechanisms of stress” before considering “stress qualification” and the “implications of informational stress”. The author’s chapters 14‐19 are then concerned with: The informational aspect of tiredness (Chapter 14); The informational nature of anxiety (Chapter 15); Depression and negative redundancy (Chapter 16); The informational ethiopathogeny of psychiatric diseases (Chapter 17); Informational ethiopathogeny of psychosomatic diseases (Chapter 18); The prevention and treatment of informational disorders (Chapter 19). Finally, a list of what is called “Instead of conclusions” is given as Chapter 20. This puts the texts “ideas in context with important conclusions on information discussed within titles that range from its role in contemporary society” to the “prospects opened up in medicine”. The final paragraph clearly sums up the author’s view that:
The human body becomes an informational system as well, where all the molecules and cells contribute either to building up a communication system, or to transmitting the signals which circulate through this system. Accordingly, it is easier to understand why in certain cases information itself can become a pathogenous factor, many diseases having in fact an informational etiology.
What the author Adrian Restian shows is that information may, under certain conditions, become a pathogenous factor as well. Thus, he believes, information adds to the other pathogenous factors which make an attempt on the health of the contemporary man. He does, in fact, show successfully that numerous diseases have an information etiology.
He also describes information pathogeny because he believes that the human body is a highly complicated communication system and the pathogenous factors acting on the body will simultaneously act upon its communications pathways or the signals circulating through them. In fact what he shows is that numerous diseases may be induced by the disturbance of the transmission and processing of information through the human body.
He has indicated that beside infectious metabolic, immunitary or molecular pathologies, there is an informational pathology as well, which has a very important place in the life of contemporary man who is more and more informationally assailed.
The author has thus justified his approach and claims that the material provided in his book is not only intended for the medical field in all its specialities, but also for all scientists, artists and scholars who are involved in the production and transmission of what is an ever increasing amount of information. This information, he writes, may, beside having its positive effects, have some negative ones that affect the human body.
The book in its present form has a wealth of detail in its chapters and the reader who does not understand the language of the text still has the opportunity of following the theses presented. While students and scholars would demand a full translation before purchasing the book, researchers and scientists working in the many areas covered by the text would do well to have a copy on their shelves, if only to provide a list of subjects that should be considered, and references, mostly given in English, which would provide valuable reading.
