Download or read book Germ Theory and Its Applications to Medicine & on the Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery written by Louis Pasteur and published by Great Minds Series. This book was released on 1996 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before the introduction of antisepsis and inoculation, people commonly died due to unsanitary conditions in the home, or following surgery or childbirth. Between them, the great scientists Louis Pasteur (1822-1893) and Joseph Lister (1827-1912) extended widely the practice of inoculation and revolutionized medical practice. Pasteur's discovery that living organisms are the cause of fermentation formed the basis of the modern germ theory. Following Pasteur's researches, Lister proceeded to develop his antiseptic surgical methods. These breakthroughs in medicine are to be reckoned among the greatest discoveries of the nineteenth century.