why not? smallpox might or might not have died out, but hookworm would still be around
Because if a given person didn’t solve the problem in year X, someone else may have solved the problem just a few years (maybe decades?) later.
Seems unlikely for these examples. It’s not the scientific discovery that really matters; it’s the public health program implementing it, which is a lot more sensitive to pre-existing conditions than discovering a fact about the world is.
why not? smallpox might or might not have died out, but hookworm would still be around
Because if a given person didn’t solve the problem in year X, someone else may have solved the problem just a few years (maybe decades?) later.
Seems unlikely for these examples. It’s not the scientific discovery that really matters; it’s the public health program implementing it, which is a lot more sensitive to pre-existing conditions than discovering a fact about the world is.