The discovery of the germ : twenty years that transformed the way we think about disease / John Waller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Waller, John, 1972-

Contributor:

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Series:

Revolutions in science

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Germ theory of disease--History.

Germ theory of disease.

History.

Physical Description:

197 pages : illustrations ; 19 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York ; Chichester [England] : Columbia University Press, [2003]

Summary:

The discovery of the germ led to safe surgery, large-scale vaccination programs, dramatic improvements in hygiene and sanitation, and the pasteurization of dairy products. Above all, it set the stage for the emergence of antibiotic medicine. This book deals with the ideas and experiments of the giants of microbiology, Pasteur and Koch, as well as less-well known figures such as Casimir-Joseph Davaine and Max von Pettenkofer.

Contents:

Introduction: Revolutionary, by Any Standards 1

Part I Before the Germ 7

1 The World According to William Brownrigg 9

Part II The Germs of Revolution, 500 BC-1850 AD 23

2 Arsenals of Death 25

3 Contagious Effluvia 30

4 Leeuwenhoek's 'Little Animals' 36

5 Revolution in Paris 43

6 Dirt, Disease and Decay 51

7 The End of the Beginning 66

Part III Cue, Louis Pasteur 73

8 Two Duels 75

9 The English Disciple 89

Part IV Worms, Chickens and Sheep 95

10 The Plight of the Silkworm 97

11 Anthrax 103

Part V Koch's Postulates 121

12 1881: Potatoes and Postulates 123

Part VI The Four Big Ones, 1881-1899 133

13 The White Plague 135

14 Cholera, Suez and Pettenkofer 144

15 Pasteur's Gatekeeper 160

16 Typhoid Fever 173

Conclusion: A New Science 187.

Notes:

"First published by Icon Books, Ltd., Duxford"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-197).

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

023113150X

OCLC:

249368670