About
Germ theory — the understanding that infectious diseases are caused by specific microorganisms — replaced the miasma theory (diseases caused by bad air) in the mid-19th century. Louis Pasteur's experiments (1860s) and Robert Koch's postulates (1870s–1880s) established that specific germs cause specific diseases, enabling modern medicine.
Germ theory gave us pasteurization, sterilization, vaccines, antibiotics, and surgical hygiene. Before Joseph Lister applied germ theory to surgery (antiseptic technique, 1867), half of all surgical patients died of infection. Germ theory has saved more lives than any other scientific discovery in history.
# Top 10 Germ Theory facts
- 1Before germ theory, surgeons operated in street clothes without washing their hands
- 2Pasteur proved spontaneous generation (the idea that life arises from nothing) was false
- 3Ignaz Semmelweis proved handwashing saved lives in 1847 but was institutionalized for promoting the idea
Fascinating Facts
- ◆Before germ theory, surgeons operated in street clothes without washing their hands
- ◆Pasteur proved spontaneous generation (the idea that life arises from nothing) was false
- ◆Ignaz Semmelweis proved handwashing saved lives in 1847 but was institutionalized for promoting the idea
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