Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine

One of the best known microbiologists, Salk is celebrated mainly for his discovery of the polio vaccine. In the early twentieth century, polio became a menacing disease. It struck hundreds of thousands of children and young adults. The virus didn t just spread disease. It also spread fear. Since polio struck mainly in the summer, warm weather and vacations were looked upon with dread. Families no longer went to the beach. Mothers kept their children indoors on warm, sunny days. Jonas Salk changed all that. He would solve the riddle to one of the most tragic mysteries in the last one hundred years.