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What comes first, something that works or the knowledge to make it work? In 1796, Edward Jenner infected an 8-year-old boy with cowpox from the blisters of a milkmaid. When Jenner tried to infect him with smallpox the boy was immune. The idea of deliberate infection for immunization was almost 30 years old (although not accepted). John Fewster, a physician, traced it in 1768. Trial and error produces solutions that work without knowing why. The idea of exposing people to diseases seemed irrational until the 19th century when Louis Pasteur could explain why it worked. Academics makeup in understanding after hobbyists and laborers solved their own roadblocks themselves. Farmers used this form of vaccination long before scientists.
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