Books in Pioneers of Science series

This series looks at the development of scientific thought and discovery through the lives and achievements of some of the world's greatest scientists. Focusing on Joseph Lister, this book outlines his contributions to medical science through his work with antisepsis. It describes his life as a medical student in London, and later as a surgeon in Edinburgh. In those days probably more patients died from infected wounds and post-operative infections than from the diseases themselves and, following Louis Pasteur's discovery of disease-carrying microbes in the air, Lister determined to find a way of preventing these microbes from entering wounds. His development of antisepsis produced a dramatic improvement in the results of surgical operations, and his methods also meant that completely new types of surgery could be performed.