Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister

microorganisms. If they were not used during surgery in the 1800’s then the patient most likely would have died. Joseph Lister was one of the fathers of using antiseptics. From the beginning of his life to the end he was fascinated in all organisms body systems. He studied all about what antiseptics were, how they were made, and what uses they had. Joseph Lister was one of the most known surgeons in all of Europe by having a supportive family, studying the use antiseptics, and how they changed the way surgery was done. “On the centenary of…

If a patient were to have a single finger amputated during the mid-nineteenth century, his or her surgeon could expect a death rate of roughly 50% due to the spread of infection (“Joseph Lister”). Today’s death rates due to surgical operations are significantly lower due to the work and contributions of one biologist: Joseph Lister, the pioneer of cleanliness in surgical practices (“Joseph Lister (1827-1912”). Joseph Lister was born to Joseph Jackson Lister and Isabella Harris in the village…

Have you or someone you know ever had surgery? Something as simple as a broken arm or something more complex, like open-heart surgery? If so, your life has been directly impacted by the life of Andreas Vesalius. Andreas Vesalius was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1514. His grandfather and great-grandfather were both physicians and his father was a pharmacist. He found a love for anatomy at an early age, and started his medical studies at age sixteen. He studied under, then assisted, Jacob Sylvius,…

The first surgeon to use surgical skin antisepsis was Joseph Lister. He experimented in the 1800s with using carbolic acid on various types of surgical wounds. Lister had discovered that by using carbolic acid on the patient’s skin and on his hands; the rates of surgical site infections (SSIs) and death in his patients were reduced (Spruce, 2016). HE was also the first physician to publish an article related to antiseptic techniques; the article was titled On the Antiseptic Principle in the…