• Question: Who do you think you was more influential in the development of medicine; Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch or Joseph Lister?

    Asked by anon-208734 to Tori, Stuart on 5 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Stuart Higgins

      Stuart Higgins answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      I don’t actually know much about them, so hard to say! Pasteur invented pasteurisation and vaccinations right? So that was a big deal. Koch invented.. *quick Google* … oh blimey he discovered infectious diseases, yeah that’s a big deal too. Joesph Lister makes me think of the mouth wash Listerine.. let me check.. ahh antiseptics and better surgery. (Oh and the mouthwash was named after him).

      Ok, so in that case, maybe Pasteur because vaccinations mean you have less chance of getting ill in the first place? But then if we didn’t have antiseptics, we’d be in trouble too..

Comments

  • Photo: Titus

    Titus commented on :

    I think Robert Koch beats them all in my opinion. Whereas the other two are known for sterilization and antiseptics principles which are well respected, Koch is known for his four major postulates which define how diseases are caused and the possibility of identifying the agent that causes a certain disease, isolating that agent and growing it in pure culture. I have taught my students about Robert Koch over the years and even though some of his postulates have been partially disapproved others have stood the test of time.

    His discovery and work with Bacillus athracis that causes anthrax and the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB remain unbeaten