Analyzing Jonas Salk
- What was the norm of society and its beliefs before Salk's contribution? After?
The norm of society before Salk's contribution was simple, if someone had polio, they died. The norm was also to believe that polio wasn't curable. Salk obviously had doubts about the curability of polio, and his development of the polio vaccine proved that polio really could be cured. His impact was both a shock to America and a savior for those suffering from polio. Polio was a very destructive disease that caused paralysis in many cases. Today, very few people are infected with polio, and most people with polio don't even show symptoms because of the vaccines available. So, the norm of American beliefs after Salk's contribution is that polio is curable, and that perhaps science is capable of more than individuals thought before the "incurable" disease was cured. It may have made more people put more faith in the capabilities of science.
- How would society today be different without the impact of Salk?
Today, society would be different because there probably wouldn't be a polio vaccine. The vaccine today isn't the Salk vaccine, but it is the vaccine that was developed from the Salk vaccine. No Salk vaccine, no Sabin vaccine. If that were true, society would be different today because polio would still be a tragic and destructive disease that would be taking lots of American lives, along with lives in other countries. If the vaccine hadn't been developed, people would also have less faith in science than they do today because of a scientist's inability to discover a cure.
- To what extent did Salk impact society?
Salk heavily impacted the medical field. While both previous scientists in this project primarily affected the ways of thinking of American people, Salk's directly involved medicine and health, so his effects were more physical. For one, Salk saved millions of lives, when taking in to account all of the lives that the Sabin vaccine has saved as well. The Sabin vaccine savings should be taken into account because it was developed off of the Salk vaccine. Overall, I think Salk's impact should be considered very great because it actually saved lives, and millions of them at that.
- Did Salk intend to have the impact he did, or was it accidental and unexpected?
Salk intended to find a cure for polio, it is as simple as that. This is very similar to Feynman and Einstein, why would Salk invest so much time and work into something if he didn't honestly think that it would yield the outcome he was looking for? He fully intended and expected to discover a cure, and he totally and completely expected it to have the impact it did, to save many peoples' lives.
- Why does Salk qualify as a significant figure for this project?
Salk qualifies for a significant figure on this project because he deeply impacted American society when it made its initial impact, and all the way through today. From the development of Salk's vaccine, when it was one of the largest clinical trials in American history, all the way to the bounce-off of the Sabin vaccine which is still used today, Salk's vaccine has been a very impacting component in America. The vaccine initially cured many thousands of people when the disease was a very tragic and common occurrence. It continued to save many American lives for several years, and then a newer vaccine was developed off of it, which continues to eliminate polio from American society today. This is why Salk qualifies for this project, because he has impacted the lives of Americans all the way from 1952 until today, and the polio vaccine will continue to be used for a long time.