The public communication of science: Angular stone of the rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease

Abstract

This work is part of a larger research project in which we try to identify and examine the communication, outreach, and scientific education strategies that Rockefeller philanthropic initiatives carried out in the southern US during their first stages. The principal objective of this paper is to identify the importance and some of the main innovations of the Public Communication of Science (PCS) made by the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm (RSC) during its five years of life. We present a brief history of the RSC where we highlight the influence that its first Administrative Secretary, Wickliffe Rose, had on its constitution and development as well as the basic elements of its public health communication programs; and the role that education played in the eradication of hookworm. Subsequently, we identify and describe the main public communication of science activities behind the program, with special emphasis on the innovations used to demonstrate, to an incredulous audience, the existence of a parasite invisible to the eyes, as well as the best strategies to eradicate it. Before synthesizing the ideas presented and developing the final reflections, we dedicate a few words to the debate that exists regarding the originality of Rose’s proposal.

Keywords

• Hookworm
• Rockefeller sanitary commission
• Public communication of science
• History of medicine
• Philosophy of medicine