Abstract
This chapter will deal with smallpox, a disease which, in addition to playing a critical role in the history of the development of vaccination, also may have killed 300 million people in the 20th century alone, three times the estimated loss in that period from armed conflict. Smallpox is perhaps more emblematic than any other disease that was brought under control by science. This means understanding smallpox helps to clarify human disease response past and present. However, smallpox is a deadly disease in its own right, outside of context, and this fact drives all responses to it.