Sign-In
Cart
Albert Sabin: The Life of a Polio Vaccine Pioneer
Hardcover
Biographies GeneralMedical Reference
Publisher Price: $38.00
ISBN13: 9780300272635
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: Jun 23 2026
Pages: 416
Weight: 1.54
Height: 1.51 Width: 6.31 Depth: 9.41
Language: English
The untold story of Albert Sabin, who developed the oral polio vaccine and became a controversial public health advocate for children worldwide
Introduces readers to a passionate, driven and irascible scientist through the story of his life's work.--Adrian Woolfson, Wall Street Journal
Jonas Salk may be the name most associated with the polio vaccine, but it was Albert Sabin's oral vaccine that made the goal of global eradication of poliomyelitis a possibility. Epidemiologist Karen Torghele draws on exclusive interviews, archival research, and the scientist's own lab notebooks to deliver the first definitive biography of Sabin (1906-1993). She reveals a man driven by compulsion, whom Yale virologist John R. Paul described as a fierce joy when he was making new discoveries. But though his work reshaped virology and vaccine development, he was burdened by ego and an abrasive personality that would haunt his legacy.
Sabin's journey spanned continents and conflicts, from being a World War II hero to facilitating Cold War diplomacy, culminating in a risky experiment to test his vaccine in the USSR near the peak of the McCarthy era. Torghele combines biography and science to establish Sabin's place in medical history, illuminating the research, politics, and private issues behind one of the twentieth century's most controversial personalities--and offering insight into what we can learn from Sabin's experiences as we address vaccine misinformation, deal with deadly new viruses, and face the threatening resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, diphtheria, and polio.
Also from
Torghele, Karen
Also in
Biographies General
Bluesland: Portraits of Thirteen Major American Blues Masters
Pete Welding (ED.)
Toby Byron (ED.)
Hardcover
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 150 Bc0-400 AD
Freeman, Charles
Hardcover
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Isaacson, Walter
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Howe, Sean
Hardcover
The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel
Williams, Olivia
Paperback
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Wittman, Robert K.
Kinney, David
Paperback
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII
Warnicke, Retha M.
Paperback
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
Cordingly, David
Paperback
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Cherington, Gretchen
Paperback
Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man
Erdoes, Richard
Lame Deer, Chief Archie Fire
Paperback
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love
Dessa Wander
Hardcover
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Giuffre, Virginia Roberts
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Kuehn, Christine
Hardcover
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
Dohrn, Zayd Ayers
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback
Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Colloff, Pamela
Hardcover
Through Mom's Eyes: Simple Wisdom from Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans
Jones, Sheinelle
Hardcover
Homeschooled: A New York Times Bestselling Memoir and Read with Jenna Pick
Merrill Block, Stefan
Hardcover