The First Vaccination

Until the stunning global eradication of smallpox in the late 20th century, smallpox posed a serious health problem. In the 18th century, the disease caused by the variola virus killed every tenth child born in Sweden and France. Catching smallpox and surviving the infection was the only known "cure." This led many people to inoculate themselves with fluid and pus from smallpox sores in the hopes of catching a mild case. Unfortunately, many people died from their dangerous self-inoculation attempts.

Edward Jenner, a British physician, set out to study smallpox and to develop a viable treatment. The genesis of his experiments was an observation that dairymaids living in his hometown often became infected with cowpox, a nonlethal disease similar to smallpox. Dairymaids who caught cowpox seemed to be protected from smallpox infection, so in 1796, Jenner decided to see if he could confer immunity to smallpox by infecting someone with cowpox on purpose. That someone was a young boy by the name of James Phipps. Jenner made cuts on Phipps' arms and then inserted some fluid from the cowpox sores of a local dairymaid named Sarah Nelmes. Phipps subsequently contracted cowpox and recovered. Forty-eight days later, Jenner exposed the boy to smallpox, only to find that the boy was immune.

Today, scientists know that cowpox viruses and smallpox viruses are so similar that the body's immune system can't distinguish them. In other words, the antibodies made to fight cowpox viruses will attack and kill smallpox viruses as if they were the same.

UNIT 7

Who Created the Quadratic Formula?

x = [- b ± √(b ² - 4 ac)]/2 a

Through the use of non-linear equations, complex mathematical problems such as the trajectories of weapons fire can be solved... but who created the quadratic formula that is used to solve the polynomial expressions that describe these types of phenomena. Man has been using complex mathematical principles for 1000s of years to solve its problems. The principles of mathematics were long applied primarily to pragmatic problems rather that being studied for their theoretical interest. From the years of about 2000 BC up until approximately 300 BC, construction required solutions of this type.