Smallpox, Syphilis and Salvation: Medical Breakthroughs that Changed the World.

Since ancient times the search for cures for the great scourges that have afflicted human kind has been an ongoing quest, but it is only within the last 200 years that major breakthroughs have occurred and the development of modern medicine has accelerated. The stories behind these great cures are those of rivalries, jealousies, public humiliation, dedication, subterfuge, and great personal struggles. Often these medical advances have truly changed the world. For example, when Edward Jenner developed the concept of vaccination, and with it the cure for smallpox, he found a way to defeat a disease that had affected half a billion people - more than all those affected by wars and other epidemics combined. In Smallpox, Syphilis and Salvation we look at the compelling stories of the men and women, innovations and accidents that have led to diseases from polio to syphilis, the black plague to diabetes, tuberculosis to leukaemia no longer being the death sentence they once were. We also sound a note of warning

Sheryl Persson is a writer and educator whose articles, stories and poems have been published in journals and anthologies in the United States, England, Australia and New Zealand. Science and technology is a particular area of interest, with some of Sheryl's previous writing covering subjects as diverse as Australian megafauna, genetics and stem cell research.