Description
Book SynopsisWhen a waiting world learned on April 12, 1955, that Jonas Salk had successfully created a vaccine to prevent poliomyelitis, he became a hero overnight. Born in a New York tenement, humble in manner, Salk had all the makings of a twentieth-century icon-a knight in a white coat. In the wake of his achievement, he received a staggering number of awards and honors; for years his name ranked with Gandhi and Churchill on lists of the most revered people. And yet the one group whose adulation he craved--the scientific community--remained ominously silent. The worst tragedy that could have befallen me was my success, Salk later said. I knew right away that I was through-cast out. In the first complete biography of Jonas Salk, Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs unravels Salk''s story to reveal an unconventional scientist and a misunderstood and vulnerable man. Despite his incredible success in developing the polio vaccine, Salk was ostracized by his fellow scientists, who accused him of failing to give
Trade ReviewChosen as New York Times Book Review "100 Notable Books of 2015"
This is science writing at its best." - New York Times Book Review
...[R]emarkable, warts-and-all biography... sweeping and sympathetic narrative." - Wall Street Journal
...[I]nsightful... With an unerring sense of pace, Jacobs... relates the story of this complex man and his remarkable life as a scientific pioneer and a popular icon." - Chicago Tribune
...[F]ills a gap worth filling." - Washington Post
An extraordinarily rich biography of the doctor Americans adored and all but regarded as a saint... Jacobs makes a convincing case that Salk was a shy man who never succeeded in making the scientific or personal connections that could bring happiness, but his idealism proved a boon to mankind." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review
[A] treasure trove of facts and stories... Recommended to readers of scientific biographies and those interested in the practice of science in America." - Library Journal
The story of Jonas Salk is an endlessly fascinating one and in Charlotte Jacobs's capable hands this will be a winner and an important book. * Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone and Professor and Doctor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine *
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Table of ContentsPrologue - Two Plagues Chapter 1 - Born with a Caul Chapter 2 - Big Shot Chapter 3 - Tenacity Chapter 4 - Fighting a Ghost Chapter 5 - Vaccine Neophyte Chapter 6 - Virgin Territory Chapter 7 - The Disease Known as Polio Chapter 8 - The Chosen Chapter 9 - Renegade Researcher Chapter 10 - Torn from His Arms Chapter 11 - The World's Largest Clinical Trial Chapter 12 - It Works! Chapter 13 - The Cutter Incident Chapter 14 - Birth of an Icon Chapter 15 - Act II Chapter 16 - Two Cultures Chapter 17 - An Architectural Masterpiece Chapter 18 - A Scientific Shangri-La Chapter 19 - Divorced Chapter 20 - Harnessing the Immune System Chapter 21 - Lions Mate with Lions Chapter 22 - Salk Unfolding Chapter 23 - Fall from Grace Chapter 24 - Unbridled Freedom Chapter 25 - Nemesis Chapter 26 - The Swine Flu Snafu Chapter 27 - Final Fling Chapter 28 - Polio Redux Chapter 29 - Aide-Memoire Chapter 30 - Disciples, Sycophants, and Lovers Chapter 31 - The Clarion Call to AIDS Chapter 32 - Unresolved Chagrin
