Smallpox, Syphilis and Salvation

SMALLPOX, SYPHILIS AND SALVATION is a highly accessible, engaging look at modern medicine. Since ancient times, mankind has searched for ways to defeat disease. It has only been in the last 200 years that scientists have made major inroads in medical science, and as a result, many, many lives have been, and continue to be, saved. From intense rivalries and vanity to bitter jealousies and subterfuge, SMALLPOX, SYPHILIS AND SALVATION documents the personal tales of medical discovery in the twentieth century. The anecdotes are lively, and include mini-biographies of some extraordinary individuals who have defined modern medicine, from Edward Jenner to Louis Pasteur to Jonas Salk to Gertrude Elion. The stories behind the miracle discoveries are truly fascinating; it is intriguing to witness human frailty interfering in even the noblest of causes, and to understand if these great minds had been driven by altruism, ambition and ego or by the thrill of scientific discovery for its own sake.