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The Resource Polio : an American story, David M. Oshinsky

Polio : an American story, David M. Oshinsky

Creator
Summary
This is the gripping story of the 1950s polio epidemic that terrified America and how it was conquered in a bitter competition between two brilliant scientists. All who lived in the early 1950s remember the fear of polio and the elation felt when a successful vaccine was found. Now David Oshinsky tells the gripping story of the polio terror and of the intense effort to find a cure, from the March of Dimes to the discovery of the Salk and Sabin vaccines--and beyond. Here is a remarkable portrait of America in the early 1950s, using the widespread panic over polio to shed light on our national obsessions and fears. Drawing on newly available papers of Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin and other key players, Oshinsky paints a suspenseful portrait of the race for the cure, weaving a dramatic tale centered on the furious rivalry between Salk and Sabin. Indeed, the competition was marked by a deep-seated ill will among the researchers that remained with them until their deaths. The author also tells the story of Isabel Morgan, perhaps the most talented of all polio researchers, who might have beaten Salk to the prize if she had not retired to raise a family. As backdrop to this feverish research, Oshinsky offers an insightful look at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which was founded in the 1930s by FDR and Basil O'Connor. The National Foundation revolutionized fundraising and the perception of disease in America, using "poster children" and the famous March of Dimes to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from a vast army of contributors (instead of a few well-heeled benefactors), creating the largest research and rehabilitation network in the history of medicine. The polio experience also revolutionized the way in which the government licensed and tested new drugs before allowing them on the market, and the way in which the legal system dealt with manufacturers' liability for unsafe products. Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, Oshinsky reveals that polio was never the raging epidemic portrayed by the media, but in truth a relatively uncommon disease. But in baby-booming America--increasingly suburban, family-oriented, and hygiene-obsessed--the specter of polio soon became a cloud of terror over daily life
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
342, [16] pages of plates
Contents
  • The first epidemics
  • Warm Springs
  • "Cripples' money"
  • "And they shall walk"
  • Poster children, marching mothers
  • The apprenticeship of Jonas Salk
  • Pathway to a vaccine
  • The starting line
  • Seeing beyond the microscope
  • "Plague season"
  • The rivals
  • "The biggest public health experiment ever"
  • The Cutter fiasco
  • Mission to Moscow
  • Sabin Sundays
  • Celebrities and survivors
Isbn
9780195152944
Link
Instance
Label
Polio : an American story
Title
Polio
Title remainder
an American story
Statement of responsibility
David M. Oshinsky
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
This is the gripping story of the 1950s polio epidemic that terrified America and how it was conquered in a bitter competition between two brilliant scientists. All who lived in the early 1950s remember the fear of polio and the elation felt when a successful vaccine was found. Now David Oshinsky tells the gripping story of the polio terror and of the intense effort to find a cure, from the March of Dimes to the discovery of the Salk and Sabin vaccines--and beyond. Here is a remarkable portrait of America in the early 1950s, using the widespread panic over polio to shed light on our national obsessions and fears. Drawing on newly available papers of Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin and other key players, Oshinsky paints a suspenseful portrait of the race for the cure, weaving a dramatic tale centered on the furious rivalry between Salk and Sabin. Indeed, the competition was marked by a deep-seated ill will among the researchers that remained with them until their deaths. The author also tells the story of Isabel Morgan, perhaps the most talented of all polio researchers, who might have beaten Salk to the prize if she had not retired to raise a family. As backdrop to this feverish research, Oshinsky offers an insightful look at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which was founded in the 1930s by FDR and Basil O'Connor. The National Foundation revolutionized fundraising and the perception of disease in America, using "poster children" and the famous March of Dimes to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from a vast army of contributors (instead of a few well-heeled benefactors), creating the largest research and rehabilitation network in the history of medicine. The polio experience also revolutionized the way in which the government licensed and tested new drugs before allowing them on the market, and the way in which the legal system dealt with manufacturers' liability for unsafe products. Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, Oshinsky reveals that polio was never the raging epidemic portrayed by the media, but in truth a relatively uncommon disease. But in baby-booming America--increasingly suburban, family-oriented, and hygiene-obsessed--the specter of polio soon became a cloud of terror over daily life
Awards note
Pulitzer Prize, History, 2006.
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1944-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Oshinsky, David M.
Dewey number
614.5/49/0973
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
RC181.U5
LC item number
O83 2005
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
NLM call number
WC 555
NLM item number
O82p 2005
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Poliomyelitis
  • Poliomyelitis
  • Poliovirus Vaccines
  • United States
  • Poliomyelitis
  • United States
  • Kinderlähmung
  • Poliomyelitis
  • Vaccinatie
  • Poliomyélite
  • États-Unis
  • Geschichte 1900-2000
  • USA
  • Poliomyelitis
Label
Polio : an American story, David M. Oshinsky
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
The first epidemics -- Warm Springs -- "Cripples' money" -- "And they shall walk" -- Poster children, marching mothers -- The apprenticeship of Jonas Salk -- Pathway to a vaccine -- The starting line -- Seeing beyond the microscope -- "Plague season" -- The rivals -- "The biggest public health experiment ever" -- The Cutter fiasco -- Mission to Moscow -- Sabin Sundays -- Celebrities and survivors
Control code
ocm56834404
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
342, [16] pages of plates
Governing access note
Online version licensed for access by U. of T. users
Isbn
9780195152944
Lccn
2004025249
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780195152944
  • (OCoLC)56834404
Label
Polio : an American story, David M. Oshinsky
Link
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
The first epidemics -- Warm Springs -- "Cripples' money" -- "And they shall walk" -- Poster children, marching mothers -- The apprenticeship of Jonas Salk -- Pathway to a vaccine -- The starting line -- Seeing beyond the microscope -- "Plague season" -- The rivals -- "The biggest public health experiment ever" -- The Cutter fiasco -- Mission to Moscow -- Sabin Sundays -- Celebrities and survivors
Control code
ocm56834404
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
342, [16] pages of plates
Governing access note
Online version licensed for access by U. of T. users
Isbn
9780195152944
Lccn
2004025249
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780195152944
  • (OCoLC)56834404

Subject

Genre

Library Locations

    • Historical Medical LibraryBorrow it
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      39.9532011 -75.1766375

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