Ebook: Vaccines: A Biography

Recounting the social, cultural, and scientific history of vaccines, Vaccines: A Biography traces the lineage—the ‘biography’—of individual vaccines, originating with deeply rooted medical problems, following ideas as they are conceived and developed, leading eventually to practical, preventive solutions to major public health problems in society. Yet these are not ‘biographies’ in the traditional sense; they do not trace an individual’s growth and development. These are epic stories of discovery, of risk-takers. They have all the trappings of fiction: strong protagonists who succeed against sometimes great odds, interpersonal conflicts, deceit, political intrigue, ethical dilemmas, and dramatic, if not staged events. They are set in the major centers of Europe and the United States, on farms and in slums, and in exotic venues from Calcutta to French Indochina to Cairo to Panama. They occur in the halls of academia, research laboratories, the chambers of government, and on the battlefields of war. At its core, Vaccine: A Biography is the history of individuals advancing medical science, in the words of the famous physical scientist Isaac Newton, "by standing on the shoulders of giants".

---

The History and Biography of Vaccines against Infectious Diseases is a multi-authored book, written for an academic audience but accessible to a general readership as well. The book examines the human stories that underlie the development of vaccines against infectious diseases. Each chapter traces the lineage of a vaccine by examining the people behind the scientific hypotheses and discoveries that led to vaccine breakthroughs. These stories are firmly anchored in their historical context, as the "biography" of a vaccine generally has its origins in a medical problem rooted within a social context that subsequently engages scientists and enlists others in the eventual solution. A prominent theme woven throughout the book is the interdependence of incremental scientific advances and investigators on one another and how such advances ultimately led to practical, preventive solutions to major public health problems in society. Additionally, the human aspect of various pivotal events in the histories of specific vaccines are illustrated—this includes scientific and political hurdles and details of clinical trial controversies. In this fashion the work interweaves scientific themes, personal stories of those involved, and the sociohistorical context in which they worked in a manner that illustrates their inter-relatedness and provides the reader with exciting accounts of these advances.