Joseph Lister
Joseph Lister was a British surgeon who pioneered antiseptic surgery in the 1860s.
Building on Louis Pasteur's germ theory, he introduced carbolic acid to sterilize surgical instruments and wounds, dramatically reducing post-operative infections and deaths.
His name lives on in Listerine mouthwash, named in his honor.
- antisepticMicrobe-killing substance
- surgeonPhysician who operates
- sterileFree from microorganisms
- disinfectantAgent destroying surface pathogens
- clean handsFreedom from wrongdoing
wounds · wound dressing · infection · bacteria · operating theatre · operating table · gauze · scalpel · Victorian · Edinburgh · Glasgow · germ theory · Pasteur · hospital · cleanliness · spray · phenol · bandages
- surgerysurgery, surgeon, surgeons, operation, incision
- British ScientistsIsaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, Stephen Hawking, Francis Crick
- Medical FiguresHippocrates, Galen, Avicenna, Jenner, Jonas Salk
- medical historyHippocrates, germ theory, bloodletting, Galen, four humors
- sterilizationsterilization, autoclaving, autoclave, disinfecting, sanitizing
- biologistsbiologist, geneticist, molecular biologist, microbiologist, biochemist
scientific approach
Joseph Listerquacks
Phony doctors or duck calls
snake oil salesmen · charlatans · Typhoid Mary · barber-surgeons