The Moth in the Iron Lung: A Biography of Polio

by Forrest Maready

A fascinating account of the world’s most famous disease—polio— told as you have never heard it before. Epidemics of paralysis began to rage in the early 1900s, seemingly out of nowhere. Doctors, parents, and health officials were at a loss to explain why this formerly unheard of disease began paralyzing so many children—usually starting in their legs, sometimes moving up through their abdomen and arms. For an unfortunate few, it could paralyze the muscles that allowed them to breathe. Why did this disease start to become such a horrible problem during the late 1800s? Why did it affect children more often than adults? Why was it originally called teething paralysis by mothers and their doctors? Why were animals so often paralyzed during the early epidemics when it was later discovered most animals could not become infected? The Moth in the Iron Lung is a fascinating biography of this horrible paralytic disease, where it came from, and why it disappeared in the 1950s. If you’ve never explored the polio story beyond the tales of crippled children and iron lungs, this book will be sure to surprise.

Genres: History, Health, Nonfiction, Science, Medicine, Vaccines, Medical

285 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

After graduating from Wake Forest University with a degree in Religion and Music, Maready plied his trade in the film industry for several years, working on several Muppet movies, four seasons of Dawson’s Creek, and many other films and television shows as an audio engineer, editor, composer, and animator. He transitioned into technology as a designer and developer for visual effects software and CTO at NextGlass (now called Untappd). While at NextGlass, he helped develop machine learning software to wrangle the gigabytes of data being generated from their mass spectrometer and liquid chemical analyzers.

Creator of the popular “My Incredible Opinion” and “VaxBaby” video series, he has spent the last few years researching and writing about some of the most enigmatic riddles of science and medicine, notably autism and polio. Forrest has spoken at events and conferences around the country but prefers to stay close to his writing home in the cab of a 1992 F-150, where many of his manuscripts were composed. He lives with his wife and son in Wilmington, N.C. and enjoys tennis, piano, and competitive shooting.

Reviews

[La Coccinelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tale of polio that is told—to both children and medical students alike—does little to advance our understanding of not only what happened, but what might happen again. The account of heroic man persevering over a heartless Mother Nature needs to be corrected. Despite all the lab coats and microscopes, the March of Dimes and the Nobel prizes, the enemies were actually our own clever designs the whole time.

After reading Crooked earlier this year, I was intrigued by what the author might have to say about polio, a disease that has helped to shape the direction of children's healthcare for decades. One of the arguments from people who are staunchly in favour of vaccines seems to boil down to an indignant wail of, "Do you want to see children in iron lungs again?" or, "The polio vaccine saved us all! Salk is the biggest hero who ever lived!" or simply, "What about polio?" Yes, what about polio? In this book, Mr. Maready takes on those questions and provides ample evidence—some of it once known but now forgotten—that polio was, for the most part, a man-made scourge. An appropriate subtitle for this book could also be, "A Biography of Modern Man's Hubris" because, for all of our technological might and good intentions, we really do keep repeating the same mistakes... and then throwing the blame (or the accolades) in the wrong direction.

The poliovirus has probably been with us for the entire course of our evolution. It's an enterovirus, which is a group of pathogens that often make their home and multiply in our gut. Usually, enteroviruses are fairly mild; they might cause a slight illness, the sort of thing you probably wouldn't even bother your doctor about. For most of its history, the poliovirus was like this. It wasn't until the late 1800s that something changed, and what was once an innocuous enterovirus started paralyzing people (mostly children).

Mr. Maready does not dispute that the poliovirus was causing the paralysis in many cases. But here's the thing: the poliovirus (and other enteroviruses) are fairly benign—unless they somehow gain access to the central nervous system. This book describes a few ways that could happen, and each one is a result of man trying to pull one over on Mother Nature:

Pesticides: By the late 1800s, medicine was already full of metal-containing concoctions. If you were ill, the standard treatment was to purge the bowels. This was usually done with medicines made from mercury or arsenic. That was bad enough, but the real problem began in the 1890s when large-scale application of pesticides—containing arsenic and lead—began to be spread to combat such pests as the gypsy moth. This new pesticide stuck to everything, and the dangers were unknown at the time... and so people were eating this lead arsenate-laced produce, not knowing that they were damaging their guts.

And that brings us to the first way that polio could enter the central nervous system: through a damaged gut. Mr. Maready points out that it's probably not coincidental that the paralysis seen in many polio cases would correspond to damage of the spinal cord right behind the intestines (especially in children, since their anatomy is slightly different; their spinal cord extends lower, relatively speaking, than it does in adults). Also of note: most cases of poliomyelitis paralysis did not affect sensory function. Why is this important? Because the nerves for sensory input are located on the back of the spinal cord. Only the nerves on the front—nestled against the intestines—affected motor control.

It's probably also not coincidental that the largest polio epidemics—which affected children and adults, coincided with the heavy use of DDT. Once that pesticide fell out of favour, the epidemics also fell away... but there was another temporal association that would take all of the credit: the polio vaccine. (Mr. Maready points out that India still uses DDT, and is in fact the largest producer in the world today. India is also still struggling to eradicate "polio", despite ongoing vaccination. Coincidence?)

Tonsillectomies: For many years, this was pretty much a rite of passage. This was an eye-opening section of the book. Apparently, mouth-breathing was associated with lower IQ, so tonsillectomies were routinely performed to make children smarter! In any case, once these started happening en masse, a new form of polio emerged: bulbar polio. This meant the paralysis was much higher up, often affecting the head, neck, and trunk. Could the open wounds of the tonsillectomies have provided an entry point for the poliovirus to the nervous system and the "bulb" (the medulla oblongata), which was only an inch or so away from the tonsils?

The syringe: The advent of the hypodermic needle meant that drugs could suddenly be delivered rapidly into a person's system, bypassing the gut entirely. Unfortunately, puncturing the skin could also drive the pathogens on it deep into the tissue... giving the poliovirus another route to the nervous system. In some cases of polio, paralysis was contained to or began in one limb... which may have just been the unfortunate recipient of some sort of injection. Mr. Maready points out that this may be what we're seeing in these sporadic "polio-like" cases of paralysis that have been cropping up in children in the last few years. Since the poliovirus is not the only enterovirus that can cause paralysis if it reaches the nervous system, the theory is that "provocation polio" may be behind some of these cases... especially given the late-summer timing (which is often when some kids are getting their back-to-school shots).

Scientists of the day were well aware of the dangers of tonsillectomies and injections with regard to polio, as evidenced by this article from The New York Times from 1952:

Seek a doctor’s advice about nose and throat operations, inoculations and teeth extractions during the polio season.

There are plenty of reasons to shake your head while reading this book. Mr. Maready shows us how our arrogance in the face of things we don't understand continues to be our downfall, and we continue to repeat our mistakes (he references the Zika outbreak of 2015, framing it as yet another example of our own hubris; this is covered in more detail in Crooked).

Was the poliovirus responsible for the 20th century's polio outbreaks? Yes and no. In some cases, our own actions may have given an otherwise-innocuous virus a chance to wreak havoc in our bodies. In other cases, a different virus may have been to blame. In yet other cases, the symptoms may have been simply the result of toxicity from pesticides or metals. The change in diagnostic criteria for polio after the advent of the vaccine (requiring that the paralysis be there for 60 days rather than just 24 hours, as had been the case before) meant that the numbers of official polio victims suddenly dropped... making it look as though the vaccine was a miracle. On paper, it may have seemed that way. But there still would have been people suffering from paralysis, even if they were no longer counted as polio victims, and that paralysis had to come from somewhere.

I was surprised that there was little mention of the Cutter incident (except in passing, and not by name). Perhaps Mr. Maready felt that this was outside the scope of the book, which focused mainly on the ways the virus could get into the nervous system, rather than the vaccine history. Still, for a book subtitled "A Biography of Polio", it wouldn't be unreasonable to see a more thorough explanation of this medical debacle.

This is an easy-to-read book that offers a new—and very plausible—alternative to the accepted story about the rise and fall of polio. Will we continue to make the same mistakes, forging down the wrong path for political or financial reasons, doomed to repeat the lessons of polio forever? Or will we one day be brave enough to look at the evidence without bias and see where it actually takes us? Only time will tell... but if our repeated screw-ups throughout modern medicine's history are anything to go by, it won't be for some time yet.

[Nathan Hodge · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I read about 30 pages of this book before looking into the author's other works. Books about how vaccines cause Autism, a book about how vaccines cause physical defects in children, books about why parents shouldn't vaccinate children. No, the dude is not even close to being a medical professional (graduated with a degree in Religion and Music, whatever the hell that means). As entertaining as the book seems, I can't in good faith trust a book about this topic written by this man. Shame on everyone involved in the publishing of this book.

[Lisa Zuniga · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an awesome historical retelling of the origins of “poliomyelitis” and the failed medical attempts to prevent and cure it. It felt like it had to be a creepy fictional thriller story, but knowing the amount of research that went into his retelling, it is chilling how accurate it is. I had goosebumps by the very end. A must-read for anyone who has already begun the descent down this rabbit hole, and an open-minded reading might just get you down the rabbit hole, too.

[Vini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to everyone willing to hear an honest approach to the reality of the cause of polio. Poliomyelitis, still prevalent today, can be avoided by carefully examining the use of pesticides and insecticides, as well as dangerous “medicines”. It’s ironic how the methods of preventing diseases of paralysis, were actually the cause to begin with. Maready is a fantastic author and I will be excited to read his other works.

[J Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important read for getting an unvarnished, and likely much more correct than the widely promoted, propaganda laced representation of polio history. Compelling portrayal that makes an effort to canvass many data points that may weigh in to events for reader consideration.

[Sonja Arlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who knows someone or is old enough to remember themselves, Polio conjures the image of children in Iron Lung machines or in contraptions to help them walk. Any epidemic that mainly affects children will have a highly emotive impact on everyone.

So for someone to propose that Polio could have had other contributing factors, other than just the virus, is lunacy right? Just for context, the author barely mentions the polio vaccines and he is not an anti-vax fanatic.

This book proposes that the polio epidemics of the past century may not have been caused solely by the poliovirus itself, but the result of a complex interplay between environmental toxins (particularly pesticides) and viral presence.

Lead arsenate and DDT were liberally sprayed on crops, people, while at its hight of popularity DDT was even added to wallpaper and clothes. India still makes use of DDT on a regular basis and also still has continued Polio cases despite a robust vaccine program.

Each chapter is meticulously sourced, referencing historical medical journals, agricultural records, and early clinical studies that are rarely discussed in mainstream literature.

The book also includes commentary on how scientific narratives are shaped by public fear, governmental policy, and economic interests. These influences are still present in modern day scientific research.

Scientific understanding is often retroactive and sometimes it’s good to get another perspective on a subject that seems to be settled.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book! Well written. Interesting. Nice pace. It’s presented in a non dry fashion. It is very surprising information and should be taught in every high school around the country.The effect polio has had on modern medicine is very important to understand.

[Lars · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't remember how I ended up with this book on my reading list, but this belongs in the fiction category. Everything in here is just the opinion of one man without a background in medicine or as a researcher.

Garbage.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written book that is very appropriate for the world of today. Sudden onset of epidemics, the complete change to American society, the panic over a disease, and the failure to properly identify the risk. This is a story of the arrogance of man that is being repeated today. The same ineffective treatments then are being recycled today. The author lays out the well researched facts and lets the reader make the conclusions. This should be required reading for everyone involved is science and health. Forrest Maready does a great job of capturing the readers attention and keeping it throughout.

[Filipe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disguised as a historical and scientific account, this book distorts facts and ignores evidence that goes against the idea the author is trying to sell. Worst part is, it's well enough written that it leads you on if you're unaware of the underlying facts or science.
However, it is just wrong or woefully inaccurate with the science here and there which sent me doing research on multiple occasions before I actually realised the “metaphor” the author was going for. Which wasn’t a metaphor at all, but simplifications that are just wrong, confusing and misleading, using terms that are not synonymous though as if they were and propagating misinformation.

[Candice Eales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and insightful. Really enjoyed reading this book - I didn’t want to put it down! Highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about the history of Polio.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m interested in infectious diseases, so I’ve been reading about Poliomyelitis, which has been eradicated in most of the world. I made myself listen to this Audiobook, so I could learn about what sort of bad information is still being published. Poliomyelitis has been eradicated by use of vaccines in most of the world, but the disease is active in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I doubt lead arsenates and DDT are still used only in the border areas of both countries.

In July 2019, there were 32 cases of polio paralysis in Pakistan. Most are children under the age of 4. According to WHO, for EACH paralyzed child, there are 200 others who are infected with polio virus. Anti-vaxxers are active in those countries, attempting to “sabotage” the vaccination campaigns.

MEASLES OUTBREAK: According to NZ news sources, the latest death toll of the measles epidemic in Samoa is 81. Most victims are under the age of 4. As of 27 December 2019, there are 46 people still in hospital—including 9 critically ill children. Babies are suffering, as are their worried parents and relatives.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding, informative, well-written book that tells an incredible story about the history of poliomyelitis, not to be confused with the poliovirus. Rather than just a bunch of facts stacked on top of each other the book is a series of short chapters that really do tell a story from a farm in Vermont to America's largest cities decades later. It's really a must-read for anyone curious about the topic of polio, it's causes, and it's "cures." I'm looking forward to picking up Maready's other book Crooked: Man-Made Disease Explained, as I was so impressed with this one.

[Martijn Reintjes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realise how little I knew about Polio, and now I still wonder if it was really a problematic disease or that we just used to much bad pesticides. Probably the latter where the first then finished the job to kill the humans.
Very interesting.

Also very cool to hear how doctors went about trying to cure a disease they couldn't see.

[Hollie D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. You would be surprised by how much you don’t know about the actual history of polio.

[Amanda Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read for anyone who is interested in the history of "polio", old-timey pharmaceuticals and the usage of toxic pesticides and agricultural chemicals.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book

Lots of historical data about the polio cases and the relationship between outbreaks and external factors such as pesticides. Well written and documented.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most intriguing books I have ever read. This was such a great book!

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Moth is the Iron Lung is a fascinating history of the Poliomyelitis disease. It was fascinating to me especially because much of the book took place during my lifetime. Polio was first noted in 1894, and it hit its peak in the 1950’s when I was born.

Why a moth? Well, the book explains that it was the accidental introduction of a nonnative species gypsy moth by an entomologist in 1869, that began the chain reaction story of how polio began in the USA.

The book rings a lot of bells in similarity to our COVID-19 pandemic today. In 1916 polio was thought to be airborne. Fourth of July Celebrations were cancelled. Children under 16 years old were were cautioned to frequently wash their hands, to stay away socially distant from one another, avoid any crowds—no movies, church services, parties etc. Scientists were desperately trying to create a vaccine.

I have several memories of how polio devastated the USA in my growing up years. I remember the fear that we had as children of being like “that boy” that we saw in the school hallways who used a wheelchair or crutches because he was paralyzed from the waist down. In 1960, My Campfire Girls Club went to sing Christmas carols to a middle-aged man who was in an iron lung machine. In 1962, my parents took us all to the local high school gymnasium to stand in a long line of people three Sunday afternoons in a row to receive drops of Albert Sabin’s polio vaccine on a sugar cube. My good friend, Debby, was diagnosed with polio as a young girl, but avoided the devastating results of paralysis.

Even though I lived through the polio epidemic I didn’t know much about what caused it, or how it became eradicated in the USA. I read this book from cover to cover in two days because it was so interesting, and it is highly recommended.

Scientists had many questions. Why did the virus seem to peak during the summers and go nearly dormant in the other seasons? They tried to figure why some years it would be so prevalent and other years not. They speculated that it was caused by moths, mosquitoes, flies, children playing too hard. Most years, it seemed to hit the rural areas more than cities. Why was it hitting children more than adults and why children in the better areas of town more than those in the slums?

Scientists sprayed fields of fruits and vegetables with pesticides made of arsenic and lead to try to kill the moths and insects. The “dipped” cattle in toxic solutions to ward off germs. Later DDT insecticide added to the toxic recipe for polio to increase. Turn of the century medical doctors used arsenic and mercury medicines to try to cure the symptoms of the disease. As the book progresses, you can see that these were some of the main causes of it’s spread. Later DDT added to the toxic recipe for polio to increase.

Jonas Salk (1955) and Albert Sabin (1961) were the heroes who finally developed a vaccine that worked. So in 1962, i and my fellow American children could take a few drops of vaccine on a sugar cube, and have a lifetime immunity to this very dreaded disease.

[Suebee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for every parent who wants to know more about the vaccines they are injecting into their children, for history buffs who have been taught that the polio vaccine singlehandedly ended the polio epidemic, and for American citizens who want to be informed about the history of American Public Health.

Author Forrest Maready links the outbreaks of paralysis many experienced from the 1890s-1950s to *mostly* environmental factors, including application of Paris Green pesticides, Lead Arsenate pesticides, and finally DDT. He traces the use of these chemicals to the source of many of the "polio" outbreaks throughout American history. The other thing he makes clear to the reader is the distinction between paralysis diagnosed as "poliomyelitis" and paralysis diagnosed as from the "poliovirus." Physicians didn't know enough at the time to distinguish paralysis caused from the poliovirus from other *similar* paralysis (with similar symptoms), and so it was all lumped under the single name "polio." By the time Salk came out with his polio vaccine, the paralysis attributed to the poliovirus (but actually mostly due to pesticide use) was on the decline due to national awareness of the toxicity of DDT and lead arsenate. He also points out that India still struggles with acute poliomyelitis and its paralysis in children, and they are the largest user of DDT in the world.

I read this in May 2021, toward the end of the Coronavirus pandemic, and much of the national news media conversation today veers toward coercion to ALL people of America to "get the shot," no matter their natural immunity or age (even though children are not statistically at any significant risk from the virus).

I am the mother of a vaccine injured child, and so I already know a lot more than most on this topic. However, the story of how the polio vaccine has been painted as the "savior" of children suffering from poliomyelitis paralysis is just astounding to me. I first listened to a podcast with the author before reading the book and was just flabbergasted by this information. How it has been hidden from the American public for so long is a travesty.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story and writing. Forrest recounted the HUGE media-driven circus to make the polio vaccine the ill-gotten hero, while the country was busy and in a full-court press to poison every living thing with pesticides. The lead arsenate, DDT, and Paris Green pesticides were the REAL reason polio even happened. Why were people so unwilling to realize that if these pesticides poisoned insects, people were also harmed? Thank you Forrest for straightening out the erroneous, often-told history lesson that made the vaccine the hero. All America needed to do to stop polio was to stop using the toxic pesticides, they were using with abandon back then. When they stopped using arsenic and DDT polio stopped -duh! We are currently reliving this nightmare with Covid-19. Someday the sham and lies about this completely fabricated illness causing an even-bigger scam with the shots will come to light. I hope people will wake up before then and stop this. It took many people dying of pesticide poisoning before people came around and realized it had always been the pesticides that had been responsible for polio and nothing else. News flash! Currently, the government STILL does not care about your health and would rather you take experimental therapy with no long term safety testing that will probably ruin your health or take your life.

[Didi Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Brave, thorough and thought provoking. I had no idea how many factors contributed to what was referred to as Polio at that time. It’s easy to forget how different life was then, yet how many things stay the same. I appreciated that this book was not necessarily a “shame on you” to doctors at the time (which I was concerned it would be) but rather a history of how we problem solve with the resources we have at the time, how solutions can cause new unforeseen problems, and how we can be influenced as a species (whether positively or negatively) when we believe science is as pure as we’d wish or that it can be neatly summed up through singular cause and effect experiments. I’m so grateful this author dug deeper. A fascinating work. I wonder what the author will discover many years from now about what’s contributing to our current COVID 19 pandemic.

[Terry McIntire · Rating 1 out of 5]

Beware of the sketchy information/research in this book. While arsenic, lead and DDT was most likely influential in susceptibility to diseases such as polio, there is much more to this story. Vaccines have saved orders of magnitude more lives than they have cost. Look at Maready's other books and be wary/skeptical of his anti-vaccine agenda.

[Doris Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want everyone to read this book relating to health. Maready has done tremendous fair and unbiased research and presents some excellent questions. The content is highly enlightening because Maready does not blindly accept the questionable expert opinions which are relentlessly promoted as fact. Maready's research unravels and clarifies.

"Myelitis" is one word for an inflammation of the nerves. "Polio" only means "gray", so I could wear some polio shoes, it has nothing to do with microbes. "Gray nerves" become poliomyelitis because one of the earliest doctors translated plain speech into medical jargon this way. Lesions were found on autopsy on the gray part of the spinal cord nerve tissue of some who died with paralysis. From Maready's research it is abundantly clear that many of the cases of polio seemed to be separate diseases. For some the lesions were at the base of the brain, for others the lesions were at the bottom of the spine. The symptoms for some were caused in the anterior horn, for others the symptoms were caused in the posterior horn. Also the symptoms could vary greatly among patients.

Our reality has become a creation of politicians and legislators who make laws to uphold falsehoods. So much of our perceived reality is created by newspapers, television, and now especially by social media. In the future, I think Maready's book may be considered in the same category as George Orwell's "1984" as a book heralding a prophecy; or maybe the equivalent of Copernicus questioning the earth's status as the center of the universe. We need more researchers like Maready.

Maready does not openly ask the big question - the actual existence of any "virus". This question is beginning to be asked at some of the most advanced levels is: do viruses even exist? When trying to capture a virus, what is found is sections of genes (DNA or RNA). Some of the most advanced and respected scientists have called the loose pieces of RNA "exosomes", just random pieces of genetic material from a sick or dead cell. When any of this RNA or DNA "virus" is put on a petrie dish in a lab it will not cause the disease. The "virus" cannot be replicated. The "virus" cannot be seen nor identified under the strongest microscope. Viral medicine is based on unproven theories and hypotheses. Maready does not seem to go as far as to question the very existence of a "virus" but he does ask good background questions. The alternative causes he considers for myelitis seem more logical than a "virus".

(Occasional poor spelling is my only criticism of the book since this confuses my reading. He uses both "breach" and "breech" as the same word. When he says "asceptic", I guess he means "aseptic". On page 240 he says "Herald", then on 244 he says "Harold" so I had to stop to see if these were two different people.)

[T. L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Poliomyelitis, actually the story of Paris Green, Lead Arsenate and DDT poisoning with tons of $$$ funding the science and scientists who were blaming paralysis and deaths on an non living and non visible particle which they named Poliovirus. As always, those who were concerned and warning were silenced and ridiculed since all those chemicals were safe and effective once upon a time. Last but not least it's about doctors' disgusting medical potions used as treatment of symptoms, mercury purgatives and injections of penicillin mixed with peanut oil or aluminium, which inflicted even more suffering and deaths.

PS: India has the highest number of cases of infantile paralysis (identical symptoms to polio) while it has the most aggressive polio vaccination regime, the link is quite simple, India is the major producer and user of DDT, a pesticide that has been banned dacades ago by many countries.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.
I found this to be a pretty interesting read, one of the most fascinating parts of polio(myelitis) was how early on it seemed to strike the healthiest kids. Unfortunately this was never really explained. Perhaps it's still unknown why that is but I was hoping for the book to have some conclusion on this.

I liked the comparison at the end of the book to the Zika Virus and how the portrayal in the media really frames things like this.

It's pretty amazing to think that DDT was harmless for humans while it killed every other animal. Then again this was at a time where modern medicine just wasn't really developed. Which was arguably hard when you couldn't even see viruses etc.

Overall it was an interesting book but I felt it was missing a few conclusions or at least attempts at explaining certain things.

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, hard-to-find information. The polio story we all grew up hearing is apparently chock full of holes. Which I already knew a little about. But I was glad to have the rest of the story filled in for me. The author is pretty clear and methodical in exposing and explaining the holes. I think Maready makes a very good case overall. Of course more study needs to be done.

Some of the facts are astounding. How they sprayed DDT so indiscriminately. How they sprayed lead-arsenic on crops for so long. How doctors were commonly giving people arsenic as medicine for 140 years. How the scientists and government covered up their tracks after poisoning so many people. It's frightening but good information to know.

[Emma Penner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating point of view, told in a captivating way. I enjoy learning about history, and I found this book to be quite helpful in expanding my knowledge on polio. However- I do think that other books should be read to accompany this one in learning about polio, I wouldn’t just take everything in this as 100% fact right away, I’d like to read from other historians views as well (which would probably be good to do in any subject like this)

[Tiletha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MUST read! If you are not sure you want to...just read the Epilogue and Commentary first and Im sure you will go back and digest the entire book from its start. With all Ive read and studied and seen and continue to learn, if you asked me if I would vaccinate my children if I had my time over again....not in a heart beat. 😔

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives the history how polio was started. The moth is because they sprayed toxic arsenic sprays to kill moths and wherever they did the polio was found. It’s amazing how much toxins they sprayed back then. Explains the whole continuation of polio and the vaccine introduction. You can draw your own conclusions.