Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister was born in Upton, Essex, to a Quaker family; his father improved the microscope. He studied medicine at University College London and became a surgeon in Edinburgh and then professor of surgery in Glasgow. In his time, many patients who survived operations died afterward from infected wounds, a problem called hospital disease. In 1865 Lister read Louis Pasteur's work showing that fermentation and decay are caused by microscopic living things carried in the air. He reasoned that the same might be true of wound infections and decided to kill the germs before they could enter. He used carbolic acid, which had been used to treat sewage, on wounds, dressings and instruments, and later sprayed it in the operating room. His first success was with an eleven-year-old boy, James Greenlees, whose broken leg healed without infection. Deaths in his wards fell sharply. Many surgeons were slow to accept his methods, but by the end of his career antiseptic and then sterile surgery were standard. He became surgeon to Queen Victoria and was made a baron. He died in 1912.

Joseph Lister is also an author in the library: author page and works.

Faith: Descended from members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Source: Dictionary of National Biography (1885–1900) (via Wikisource)