What was it like before
The Germ Theory of GToD?
Disease
Spontaneous generation / The Wrath of God
Herman Gordon, Ph.D. The Miasma Theory of Disease
Univ. of Arizona
The concept of contagiousness without the
concept of contagion
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An Exercise in Problem Solving
What was it like before the GToD?
1546 Girolamo Fracastoro 1673 Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek
proposed that epidemic
disease was spread by observed microbes in a
“spores” microscope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Antoni_van_Leeuwenhoek.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Antoni_van_Leeuwenhoek.png
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1835 Agostino Bassi 1843 Oliver Wendell Holmes
argued that disease
could be transferred
stated the Germ
between patients by
Theory of Disease for
doctors and nurses
the 1st time
who didn’t wash their
hands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Antoni_van_Leeuwenhoek.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oliver_Wendell_Holmes.jpg
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Described a “living entity” in the form of a contagious and visible white dust as the cause of the silk Remarkable because there was little concept of germs at this time!
epidemic in Europe. Later isolated as a fungus and named after him.
Recommended disinfection and destruction of infected silk larvae.
1845 postulated that living agents could also transmit human disease.
1847 Ignaz Semmelweiss 1849-1854 John Snow
independently
the father of
discovered the need
epidemiology, figured
for hand-washing
out that bad well
between patients, but
water caused cholera
failed to convince
–!not bad air
others
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ignaz_Semmelweis.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:John_Snow.jpg
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Cholera in London 1854 Filippo Pacini
isolated cholera
bacillus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:John_Snow.jpg
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Snow-cholera-map-1.jpg Also discovered the Pacinian corpuscle deep touch sensor.
Discovery of cholera bacillus was rejected because the Miasma Theory of Disease was dominant in Italy
at the time. Rediscovered by Koch 30 years later.
1860-65 Louis Pasteur(ization) Proof of Biogenesis
showed that microbes
caused fermentation
effectively advocated the
GToD, and hence became
its “father”
http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/misc/evprev/fig21.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Coldecygne.svg
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Dramatic demonstration similar to Feynman’s freezing of the rubber gasket in a glass of ice water
during the Challenger enquiry.
1867 Joseph Lister(ene) 1914 Joseph Goldberger
figured out that pellagra
Pushed anti-septics was NOT caused by
infectious agents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Joseph_Lister.jpg from the CDC Public Health Image Library (PHIL #8164)
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Lessons from History
History repeats itself
Truth can be rejected for stupid reasons
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