In 1998 a British gastroenterologist published a paper with a shocking allegation: the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism. The media seized the story and, in the process, helped launch one of the fastest-spreading health scares ever—linking childhood vaccines and autism. Join us for a lecture by former Newsweek senior journalist Seth Mnookin, author of the critically acclaimed book The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear. He will draw upon interviews with parents, public-health advocates, scientists, and anti-vaccine activists to tackle a fundamental question: How do we decide what the truth is?

Seth Mnookin is the author of The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear, which The Wall Street Journal said “should be required reading at every medical school in the world.” He is also the author of the 2006 New York Times-bestseller Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top, about the Boston Red Sox. Since 2005, Seth has been a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He graduated from Harvard College in 1994 with a degree in History and Science, and was a 2004 Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. A native of Newton, Massachusetts, he and his wife currently live in Brooklyn with their six-year-old dog and their one-year-old son.

Co-sponsored with the Museum of Science and Industry:

Event Details

SPEAKER:
Seth Mnookin, Author, “The Panic Virus”
Saturday, April 16th 2011, 1pm

The Museum of Science and Industry
57th Street and Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60637
Tickets $15
For more details or to register, click here or call 773-684-1414.