Who was known for his promotion of inoculation for disease prevention and owned the slave Onesimus?
Cotton Mather Cotton Mather, FRS (February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728; A.B. 1678, Harvard College; A.M. 1681, honorary doctorate 1710, University of Glasgow) was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author, and pamphleteer. He left a scientific legacy due to his hybridization experiments and his promotion of inoculation for disease prevention, though he is most frequently remembered today for his vigorous support for the Salem witch trials. He was subsequently denied the Presidency of Harvard College which his father, Increase Mather, had held.
Inoculation The terms inoculation, "vaccination", and "immunization" are often used synonymously to refer to artificial induction of immunity against various infectious diseases. This is supported by some dictionaries. However, there are some important historical and current differences. In English medicine, inoculation referred only to the practice of variolation until the very early 1800s. When Edward Jenner introduced smallpox vaccine in 1798, this was initially called "cowpox inoculation" or "vaccine inoculation". Soon, to avoid confusion, smallpox inoculation continued to be referred to as "variolation" (from variola = smallpox) and cowpox inoculation was referred to as "vaccination" (from Jenner's use of "variolae vaccinae" = smallpox of the cow). Then, in 1891 Louis Pasteur proposed that the terms vaccine and vaccination should be extended to include the new protective procedures being developed. "Immunization" refers to the use of all vaccines but also extends to the use of antitoxin, which contains preformed antibody to e.g. diphtheria or tetanus exotoxins. "Inoculation" is now more or less synonymous in nontechnical usage with "injection" etc., and the question e.g. 'Have you had your flu injection/vaccination/inoculation/immunization?' should not cause confusion. The focus is on what is being given and why, not the literal meaning of the technique used.