Toward the end of this century, Edward Jenner, an English country doctor, made a discovery that was to open the doors for the relief of untold suffering and death.
Smallpox had killed millions, and there was no indication that the number of cases was decreasing. Jenner overheard a dairymaid say that she could not catch smallpox because she had already had cowpox. Knowing that cowpox was a mild disease, he decided to experiment and vaccinated a small boy with pus from a cowpox lesion. Eight weeks later, the boy was inoculated with smallpox but did not get the disease. Jenner published his findings in 1798. Although Jenner was greeted with some skepticism at first, it was not long before the incidence of smallpox was greatly reduced in developed countries all over the world.
I was reading this excerpt last night in my book on disease and noticed a of couple things. This guy Jenner, who is credited with the discovery of the benefits of vaccination, was not singularly responsible for this scientific breakthrough. He had some help. A woman. Who knows what would have happened if he wasn't enlightened by this lady's insightful conversation. And this makes me wonder how many other great advances in science and medicine have been ascribed to only a handful of men rather than present a more complete story. (I also think it's interesting that we get this snippet of extra information from a textbook whose author is a woman. I would place a hefty bet that a male author would not pick up on such a detail.)
I am also slightly amused by the fact that Jenner decided to take this knowledge he gained from the dairymaid and test it out on a young boy. That's not dangerous or ethically questionable... I'm sure many people would just fall back on the usual logic of "well, at least it greatly reduced the risk of smallpox," as if results were all that mattered and not process.
Science is an interesting thing. And the way it is documented and conducted even more so.
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