Revolutionary Germ Theory: The Great Minds Responsible Essay

The germ theory was proposed by Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur in the 1870s, on the basis that microorganisms were the cause of many diseases.

Throughout history there have been many important revolutions that have help to shape society as it is today. There are different causes, from political to religious, economic to social. Any revolution affects those in society, and creates changes for the people in the society. There are three important revolutions that took place in the late 18th century that changed the world for the better. The French Revolution, the American Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution all took place in the late 1700s. Although each had a different purpose, they all lead to a better way of life for many. The French and American Revolutions are examples of some which are brought about and enforced solely by the people. Although they had different reasons

Through history, there has been revolutions that have affected the world in many different ways. There is two kind of revolutions political revolutions ,that are changes to the government, and non political revolution, that are intellectual, economic or social changes. The non political revolutions are important because they had shaped the way we all think, act and work in the actuality. Some of those non political revolutions are the enlightenment that was a change in the way that everybody thinked; and the Industrial revolution in Europe that changed the way goods were produced.

136). The germ theory can be defined as “microorganisms, which are too small to be seen without the aid of a microscope, can invade the body and cause certain diseases” (Kusinitz).

The scientific revolution started in around 1543. The scientific revolution was a time period where there were developments in math,biology,chemistry,and astronomy. This led to people such as Nicholas Copernicus and Issac Newton creating things such as calculus and the idea of a heliocentric solar system. These people were key figures in the scientific revolution. Because of this time period of learning everyone from the rich to the poor were effected during and after the Scientific Revolution.

(Starr.) Germ theory or “filth theory”, as coined by Charles V. Chaplin, was established in order to help define how environmental health impacts infection was transmitted. Personal hygiene and modern sanitary science became radically popular outlook in the early 19th century that helped aid and control diseases like tuberculosis and veneral disease, improving the health of infant, and other health problems. This growing emphasis created the need for individual health

-The germ theory led to the creation of vaccines, anti-toxins, antibiotics, and the development of laboratory-based pharmacology to help patients to get healthy.

“Louis Pasteur – Germ Theory of Disease” Inventors About. Com. 2014. Retrieved on January 13 2014 from Biography.com: http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventors/a/Louis_Pasteur.htm

“Three important revolutions shaped the course of history: the Cognitive Revolution kick-started history about 70,000 years ago. The Agricultural Revolution sped it up about 12,000 years ago. The Scientific

Also, the anthrax spores can take between 1 - 60 days to begin to germinate in the body.

However, even though many views were changed there were still problems with the church and even other scientists. Sometimes disagreement would break out and it would create conflict. For example the idea Heliocentrism was not very popular with the church and scientists who were close with the church who also disagreed with the idea, but this idea was proven to be found true a in much later time. Geocentrism has been believed to be true for a long time so when someone comes up with a new idea the churches power is threatened as well as other scientists who believe in this theory. If no one had ever challenged the standards and ideas of their time we as a species would never have went forward in math, science, music, and art. The scientific revolution had a huge impact on the entire world. Without the revolution America would not be as we know it today. Many great nations have been affected and impacted by the scientific revolution. New ways of thinking, new inventions, new books, and better forms of arts of all kind. The scientific revolution brought out many great thinkers such as

Two of them were Emile Roux and Charles Chamberland. He had heard about the work of another scientist, Edward Jenner, who had found a vaccine for small pox. Louis investigated the vaccine and how it worked by exploration and discovery. He didn’t know how Edward Jenner’s vaccine worked, so he just guessed and check, or exploration and discovery. This consisted of inoculating chickens with different cultures of the chicken cholera. They discovered that the old cultures made the chickens immune to the

Pasteur is best known for coming up with Pasteurization(named after him) which is a process in which bacteria are destroyed by boiling beverages and then cooling them. During this discovery, he also found out that microorganisms were responsible for spoiling wine and milk. When Pasteur found about Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccination discovery he argued that if there is a vaccine for smallpox then there must be a vaccine for all diseases and that’s when he invented a vaccination for Rabies and Anthrax. Before his Germ theory, no one would sterilize their surgical equipment before performing a surgery which increased mortality rates during surgeries. Pasteur disproved Spontaneous Generation by performing an experiment using beef broth and flasks.

Louis Pasteur graduated in 1847 with a doctorate degree in chemistry and physics. He was asked to study the question, “could contamination that occurred during the fermentation, possibly prevent the development of good alcohol?” Louis visited factories where alcohol was made, took samples, and did studies. The conclusion he found was the yeast used in the fermentation process was a living organism and could cause the alcohol to turn bad. Through this discovery Louis found that germs are in living things. He helped solve many problems, including a disease that was found in Silk worms, chicken cholera, and rabies. Louis was involved in many studies involving germ theory that helped explain all infectious diseases. He was introduced to Joseph

The origin of the discovery of anthrax is debatable among scholars. Robert Koch is accredited with the discovery of anthrax in his 1876 publication of the results of his decade lone experiments. This is the most familiar of the anthrax discovery events to the majority of scientists. The discovery of anthrax as an infectious disease was the first of its kind and supported the germ theory that had been around for centuries. The discovery verified the newfound study of microbiology and sparked the creation of vaccines for microbiological infections. Although Koch is accredited with the discovery of anthrax as a source of microbial infection, anthrax and the diseases that it can cause had been noticed for nearly a century prior to Koch’s discovery. The 18th century discovery and observation of anthrax and its diseases are regarded as just as important as Koch’s final discovery because without the 17th century discovery, Koch would have no foundation to support his experiments.