Chapter 15 (p. 119)
“
A hundred and twenty million cases of the most deadly, most contagious…and least excusable…disease in medicine. For smallpox can infallibly be prevented, and only a world which had forgotten Jenner could have been taken by it unaware…or a world in which the memory of Jenner’s centuries-old prophylaxis had been systematically removed.
— Frederik Pohl
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "A hundred and twenty million cases of the most deadly, most contagious…and least excusable…disease in medicine. For smallpox can infallibly be prevented, and only a world which had forgotten Jenner could have been taken by it unaware…or a world in which the memory of Jenner’s centuries-old prophylaxis had been systematically removed." in the context of "Chapter 15 (p. 119)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Frederik Pohl" (Quotes, Drunkard's Walk (1960): All page numbers from the mass market paperback first edition, published by Ballantine Books (Catalogue number 439K)
All italics and ellipses as in the book )
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. (November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an award-winning science fiction writer and editor, with a career spanning over seventy-five years.
About Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. (November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an award-winning science fiction writer and editor, with a career spanning over seventy-five years.
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