3.1 Flashcards
(8 cards)
When did Pasteur publish his germ theory of infection
1878
Why did in the beginning pasturs work have no change or significance in british medicine
- Had almost no impact because he was not a doctor he focused on decaus and spoiled food not on disease
- his ideas also contradicted a very well respected British doctor of the time, Dr Henry Bastain
Who was Joseph Lister and how did he use Pasutures work
Lister was a British surgeon.
He read pastures’ germ theory and realised that some of the common problems he encountered in his surgery could be explained by Germ theory.
- It inspired listers use of carbolic acid in surgery
Lister theorised that if it was the flesh that was rotting in the patient and the microorganisms in the air that were causing the wine and vinegar to rot then maybe it was the same thing.
who else was interested in pastures theory, and how/why?
- John Tyndall who was a physicist, theorized that disease was spread by dust particles that contained microbes.
- He was shut down by the medical community as not only was he not a doctor, he was criticizing a well-respected one in Bastian.
Why was listers theory discreditied
- He had no proof doctors could see microbes through a microscope, and they even saw them in the blood and gut of a healthy person, so they doubted that microbes caused disease or infection.
why did pastures theory have a linited impact in britain
The attitudes of doctors didn’t change they refused to believe the link between germs and disease was correct.
What were the old ideas about microbes
OLD
- Spontaneous generation claimed decaying matter CREATED microbes
- Microbes were spread via miasma
NEW
- Pasteur’s Germ theory
Microbes CAUSED decay. Not created by rotting matter
- Microbes were spread by the air.
