Joseph Lister: The Father of Modern Surgery | Heroes of Progress | Ep. 12
In the middle of the 19th century, it was thought that bad air was responsible for infections in
patients' wounds. Hospitals would air out their wards at midday to reduce the spread of miasma,
or poisonous vapor that supposedly caused infections. Ignorance about the spread of
disease was rife. Enter Joseph Lister. Dubbed the father of modern surgery, Lister was born in 1827
in Essex, England, to a prosperous Quaker family. Lister attended University College London for both
his undergraduate and medical degrees. In 1859, Lister began working at the University of Glasgow.
During his time in Scotland, Lister read French chemist Louis Pasteur's paper that debunked the
notion that bad air caused food spoilation. To arrest the spread of harmful bacteria,
Pasteur recommended filtration, exposure to heat, and chemical solutions. Lister applied Pasteur's
insights to his surgical practice, spraying patients' wounds, surgical instruments,
and dressings with carbolic acid. When this method dramatically reduced infection rates,
Lister ordered all surgeons under his direction to wear clean gloves, wash their hands and
instruments before and after operations, and spray the H2CO3 solution in the operating room.
His methods quickly caught on across the world. As hospitals and operating rooms became cleaner
and wounds were sterilized, rates of infection fell and millions of lives were saved.
For that reason, Joseph Lister is our 12th Hero of Progress.