The life expectancy for a child born in America in 1900 was 45 years. But by World War II, science began its own all-out battle—against deadly diseases including polio, smallpox, tuberculosis, measles, cholera and influenza. While thousands of Americans were spared life-threatening health problems due to incredible medical advances, millions more around the world were not as fortunate.

In Living Longer, life takes center stage as vaccinations, mass inoculation programs and miraculous new drugs and medical advances spare lives and extend life expectancies—first in the industrialized world and then in emerging nations. Meet the pioneering men and women who fought the war against deadly diseases and learn about new plagues that threaten our future.

The People Remember: penicillin, formation of the World Health Organization, TB and GIs, mass inoculation programs, Jonas Salk and the polio vaccine, population-control campaigns