Review : Exit polio

Polio—even the title of the essay collection edited by Thomas Daniel
and Frederick Robbins is calculated to make people of a certain age shiver at
memories of “infantile paralysis”, whose victims dragged legs caged in metal
supports. The eventual defeat of the poliovirus by a successful vaccine is one
of the great stories in the history of medical research. Polio no longer exists
in most countries of the Western hemisphere and it could be eradicated worldwide
by the year 2000—a proper way to celebrate the millennium. The authors
range from a victim of polio to a Nobel prizewinner for research—Robbins
himself. All in all, an enthralling and inspiring history. Published by
University of Rochester Press, £20, ISBN 187882290X.