THE MOTH IN THE IRON LUNG by Forrest Maready (epub)(Nonfiction)

THE MOTH IN THE IRON LUNG by Forrest Maready (epub)(Nonfiction)
Author: Forrest Maready
Full title: The Moth in the Iron Lung: A Biography of Polio
Format/Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 2018
Genre/Categories: Nonfiction; Medical history; Disease origins

Maready chronicles polio epidemics from early 1900s outbreaks of paralysis—often starting in legs, spreading to breathing muscles—through iron lung era, questioning why a rare illness exploded then vanished by 1950s. He argues symptoms matched arsenic poisoning from lead arsenate pesticides sprayed on crops (1892-1950s), not solely poliovirus, citing historical cases like 1894 Vermont epidemic and toxin-virus interactions. Controversial take challenges vaccine triumph narrative, suggesting environmental toxins and flawed diagnostics drove the "man-made scourge."