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Loading... Big Ideas That Changed the World 3: A Shot in the Arm! (2021)by Don Brown
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A fine introduction to the history of vaccines. It's amazing how many issues from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries repeated when COVID came around in the 21st: fear, scientific method, skepticism, human experimentation, government mandates, and countless lives saved. I'm a believer in the science, getting my most recent COVID vaccine just last week along with a flu shot. This historical dramatization is narrated by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, an 18th century woman who helped popularize inoculation against smallpox in England after witnessing its efficacy firsthand while living in the Ottoman Empire with her husband, a British diplomat. Smallpox takes up half the book, with some time spared for anthrax, rabies, and polio as well as an epilogue about the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Good and informative. no reviews | add a review
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"A Shot in the Arm!, book 3 in the Big Ideas that Changed the World series, is the history of vaccinations and the struggle to protect people from infectious disease. Beginning with smallpox-perhaps humankind's greatest affliction to date-and concluding with an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown traces the evolution of vaccines and examines deadly diseases such as measles, polio, anthrax, rabies, cholera, and influenza. The book is narrated by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who historically popularized inoculation in England in the early 18th century. Brown covers the science behind how our immune systems work, the discovery of bacteria, and major achievements from scientists like Louis Pasteur, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and Edward Jenner, the "father of immunology." Brown also tackles the public and political response to vaccination throughout history, addressing head-on the anti-vaccination movement and debunking false claims that vaccines cause autism. A reminder of progress made so far as well as the millions of lives still to be saved, A Shot in the Arm! is a fascinating deep-dive for readers young and old. Back matter includes an author's note, timeline, bibliography, notes, and index. Big Ideas That Changed the World is a graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately changed the world. Humor, drama, and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries, and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true"-- No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)615.3Technology Medicine and health Pharmacology and therapeutics Organic drugsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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well-executed graphic exposé chronicles vaccination innovations throughout history—including the COVID-19
vaccine. Decisive yet playful, the book presents information succinctly; the artwork is brilliantly rendered, with blue
and sepia tones adding a nostalgic wash to the clean, clear layouts.