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| Plot Summary of Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio |
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"In the first decades of the twentieth century, tens of thousands of children and adults were struck by poliomyelitis, also known as infantile paralysis, every year. Some died, others such as future President Franklin Roosevelt were left permanently without the use of limbs. No one knew the cause. In 1916, a wild rumor that cats were the carriers led to the slaughter of 22,000 felines in the city of New York. Jonas Salk, who worked with a team that developed the first 'flu vaccine for the military during World War II, turned to the problem of polio in the 1950s.
Though colleagues competed with him and criticized his methods, columnists warned of little white coffins being prepared for all the children his test vaccine would kill, and cranks plagued him by mail, Salk and his staff successfully developed a vaccine that drastically reduced the threat of polio. At the dawn of the 21st century, it has nearly been eradicated worldwide."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession:
- scientist/inventor
Job/profession/poverty story
Yes
Period of greatest activity?
- 1950+
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- scientist
Biography of famous person?
Yes
Ethnicity
- Jew
Nationality
- American (!)
How sensitive is this person?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other people
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 1 (None)
United States
Yes
Misc setting
- scientific labs
Century:
- 1930's-1950's
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Book makes you feel?
- encouraged
Writer's slant towards subject:
- very favorable
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of set of events during life
Pictures/Illustrations?
- More 6-10 B&W
How much dialogue in bio?
- little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?
- 0-25% of book
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Click here for more information about this book
Jeffrey Kluger Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 David Loftus
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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