House on Fire

Smallpox killed, blinded and scarred millions of people across centuries before a worldwide public health effort eradicated it, and William H. Foege was among those who devised a key strategy in that effort. Part autobiography and part mystery, his account describes the radical vaccination strategy he helped shape, which became central to ending the disease once it was finally contained in India. Foege recounts his own public health career and the program that brought together people from many countries around a single goal. Everyday detail and a few adventures show what fieldwork is like in some of the poorest countries on earth. University of California Press published it in 2011.

Bill Gates put it on his list of 11 science books everyone should read, saying it gives a close view from the front lines of that fight.