The Light in the Skull delves into the minds and actions of such great scientists as Gallo, Pasteur, and Jenner as they try to link the three great themes of our time: evolution, disease, and the frail, ever-changing relationship between humans and nature. With a great storyteller's skill, Dr. Glasser reveals how these geniuses of medicine battled prejudice, ego, and anger to make amazing discoveries that relieved suffering, healed the sick, and altered the lives of billions of people. Readers will discover the first instance of germ theory, participate in the development of vaccines, understand antibiotics and genetic defects, and ultimately learn how medicine has always struggled to keep death and destruction more than a heartbeat away.