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, lea
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VACCINES A Biography
Vaccines: A Biography
Andrew W. Artenstein Editor
Vaccines: A Biography
Editor Andrew W. Artenstein Department of Medicine and Community Health Brown University Providence, RI 02912 USA [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4419-1107-0 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-1108-7 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-1108-7 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2009933118 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To my parents, Malcolm (1930–1976) and Sylvia (1933–2007), who inspired me in countless ways. They made the story personal.
Preface
Why another book about vaccines? There are already a few extremely well-written medical textbooks that provide comprehensive, state-of-the-art technical reviews regarding vaccine science. Additionally, in the past decade alone, a number of engrossing, provocative books have been published on various related issues ranging from vaccines against specific diseases to vaccine safety and policy. Yet there remains a significant gap in the literature – the history of vaccines. Vaccines: A Biography seeks to fill a void in the extant literature by focusing on the history of vaccines and in so doing, recounts the social, cultural, and scientific history of vaccines; it places them within their natural, historical context. The book traces the lineage – the “biography” – of individual vaccines, originating with deeply rooted medical problems and evolving to an eventual conclusion. Nonetheless, these are not “biographies” in the traditional sense; they do not trace an individual’s growth and development. Instead, they follow an idea as it is conceived and developed, through the contributions of many. These are epic stories of discovery, of risk-takers, of individuals advancing medical science, in the words of the famous physical scientist Isaac Newton, “by standing on the shoulders of giants.” One grant reviewer described the book’s concept as “triumphalist”; although meant as an indictment, this is only partially inaccurate. What in medicine could be more triumphant than conquering disease? A prominent theme woven throughout the book is the interdependence of incremental scientific advances and investigators on one another and how thes
