The End of Plagues: The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease
World-renowned immunologist John Rhodes’s The End of Plagues is “an engaging and expansive exploration of humankind’s quest to defend itself against disease” (History Today).

At the turn of the twentieth century, smallpox claimed the lives of two million people per year. By 1979, the disease had been eradicated and victory was declared across the globe. Yet the story of smallpox remains the exception, as today a host of deadly contagions, from polio to AIDS, continue to threaten human health around the world.

Spanning three centuries, The End of Plagues weaves together the discovery of vaccination, the birth and growth of immunology, and the fight to eradicate the world’s most feared diseases. From Edward Jenner’s discovery of vaccination in 1796, to the early nineteenth-century foundling voyages in which chains of orphans, vaccinated one by one, were sent to colonies around the globe, to the development of polio vaccines and the stockpiling of smallpox as a biological weapon in the Cold War, Rhodes charts our fight against these plagues, and shows how vaccinations gave humanity the upper hand.

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The End of Plagues: The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease
World-renowned immunologist John Rhodes’s The End of Plagues is “an engaging and expansive exploration of humankind’s quest to defend itself against disease” (History Today).

At the turn of the twentieth century, smallpox claimed the lives of two million people per year. By 1979, the disease had been eradicated and victory was declared across the globe. Yet the story of smallpox remains the exception, as today a host of deadly contagions, from polio to AIDS, continue to threaten human health around the world.

Spanning three centuries, The End of Plagues weaves together the discovery of vaccination, the birth and growth of immunology, and the fight to eradicate the world’s most feared diseases. From Edward Jenner’s discovery of vaccination in 1796, to the early nineteenth-century foundling voyages in which chains of orphans, vaccinated one by one, were sent to colonies around the globe, to the development of polio vaccines and the stockpiling of smallpox as a biological weapon in the Cold War, Rhodes charts our fight against these plagues, and shows how vaccinations gave humanity the upper hand.

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The End of Plagues: The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease

The End of Plagues: The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease

by John Rhodes
The End of Plagues: The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease

The End of Plagues: The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease

by John Rhodes

Hardcover

$34.99 
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Overview

World-renowned immunologist John Rhodes’s The End of Plagues is “an engaging and expansive exploration of humankind’s quest to defend itself against disease” (History Today).

At the turn of the twentieth century, smallpox claimed the lives of two million people per year. By 1979, the disease had been eradicated and victory was declared across the globe. Yet the story of smallpox remains the exception, as today a host of deadly contagions, from polio to AIDS, continue to threaten human health around the world.

Spanning three centuries, The End of Plagues weaves together the discovery of vaccination, the birth and growth of immunology, and the fight to eradicate the world’s most feared diseases. From Edward Jenner’s discovery of vaccination in 1796, to the early nineteenth-century foundling voyages in which chains of orphans, vaccinated one by one, were sent to colonies around the globe, to the development of polio vaccines and the stockpiling of smallpox as a biological weapon in the Cold War, Rhodes charts our fight against these plagues, and shows how vaccinations gave humanity the upper hand.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781137278524
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date: 09/24/2013
Series: MacSci
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Rhodes is an international expert in immunology and vaccine discovery, and has held research fellowships at the US National Institutes of Health and the University of Cambridge. From 2001 to 2007 he was director of strategy in immunology at GlaxoSmithKline, a leading multinational healthcare company. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, has served on UK government international vaccine missions and published numerous articles in leading journals such as Nature, Science and the Lancet. He lives and works in Cambridge, UK.

Table of Contents

Foreword Sir Richard Sykes ix

Introduction 1

1 The Power of the Invisible 5

2 Circassian Beauties and Pioneering Women 11

3 The Making of Jenner 23

4 Why Not Try the Experiment? 29

5 The Fourth Achievement 37

6 The Foundling Voyages 47

7 The Teeming Humanity of Nations 55

8 A Great and Loud Commotion 65

9 Completing the Picture 71

10 Germ Theory and the Birth of Immunology 77

11 Victorious Weapons against Illness and Death 89

12 First Light on the Mystery of Infantile Paralysis 101

13 Yearning to Breathe Free 109

14 A Great Step Forward 123

15 Great Themes and Dirty Little Secrets 139

16 The War on Influenza 143

17 Forged in the Crucible of War 151

18 Smallpox in a Land of Ancient Wisdom 159

19 The Final Defeat of Smallpox 167

20 Invisible Weapons of War 173

21 Benefits, Risks, and Fears 179

22 Inspiration in the Global Village 191

23 A Team of Many Colors 199

24 The Milkmaid and the Cuckoo 215

Acknowledgments 219

Bibliography 221

Index 227

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