Vaccine
For centuries, smallpox seemed unbeatable. People had tried nearly everything to knock it out\u2014from herbal remedies to tossing back 12 bottles of beer a day (yep, that was a real recommendation from a 17th century doctor), to intentionally infecting themselves with smallpox and hoping they didn\u2019t get sick, all to no avail.\nAnd then, in the 18th century, an English doctor heard a rumor about a possible solution. It wasn\u2019t a cure, but if it worked, it would stop smallpox before it started. So one spring day, with the help of a milkmaid, an eight-year-old boy, and a cow named Blossom, the English doctor decided to run an experiment. Thanks to that ethically questionable but ultimately world-altering experiment (and Blossom the cow) we got the word vaccine.\nWant to stay up to speed with all things\xa0Science Diction? Sign up for our newsletter.\n\n\n"The cow-pock - or - the wonderful effects of the new inoculation" by James Gillray in 1802, featured at the beginning of this episode.\n(Library of Congress)\n\n\nFootnotes And Further Reading:\xa0\nSpecial thanks to Elena Conis, Gareth Williams, and the Edward Jenner Museum.\nRead an article by Howard Markel on this same topic. \nWe found many of the facts in this episode in \u201cEdward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination\u201d from Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings.\nCredits:\xa0\nScience Diction is written and produced by Johanna Mayer, with production and editing help from Elah Feder. Our senior editor is Christopher Intagliata, with story editing help from Nathan Tobey. Our theme song and music are by Daniel Peterschmidt. We had fact-checking help from Michelle Harris, and mixing help from Kaitlyn Schwalje. Special thanks to the entire Science Friday staff.