Joseph lister scientist biography kids

Following his graduation, he wrote several papers including 'Observations on the Contractile Tissue of the Iris' and the 'Observations on the Muscular Tissue of the Skin'. Lister successfully passed the examination for fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons and on William Sharpley's advice, he became assistant to a leading surgeon, James Syme, at the University of Edinburgh.

The newly-weds toured the leading medical institutes in France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy for several months. Agnes, who was interested in medical research, became Lister's partner in the laboratory for the rest of her life. Although childless, their marriage was happy. Then he became surgeon at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Augustsupervising the wards in the new surgical block.

Hospital disease, now known as operative sepsis, was a common occurrence during this period. The managers hoped that this would be greatly decreased in their new building. However, the new setting did not improve the cases. It is important to note that practices to maintain sanitary conditions in hospitals were deemed unnecessary at the time.

As such, facilities for washing hands or a patient's wounds were not available and stains on unwashed operating gowns were a sign of capability and experience. Lister found out that mortality following surgical operations was even higher than in Edinburgh. At the time, surgery became the last resort due to surgical diseases which frequently killed the patients whilst on a hospital ward.

These diseases were usually blamed on miasmas exposure to 'bad air' which presumably hovered about the hospital and caused wounds to rot. As a student, Lister had examined and studied various materials under a microscope, suspecting that something in the wound rather than in the atmosphere caused the disease. Inhe came across a paper by Louis Pasteur, which demolished the theory of spontaneous generation and proved, among other things, that microbes cause decay.

His interest in the subject coupled with his experiences as a surgeon caused him to pursue the theory introduced by Pasteur. He conducted his own experiments and was able to confirm Pasteur's conclusion. View all American Revolution worksheets. View all US History worksheets. View all Ancient History worksheets. View all World History worksheets.

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View all US state worksheets. View all country worksheets. View all Seasonal worksheets. Surgery was very dangerous and the high death rate made many people suggest it should be stopped. Patients often died from 'ward fever' caused by infections after surgery. Surgeons wore their bloody and unwashed medical clothes as a badge of honour to show their experience.

Medical instruments were rarely cleaned and staff never washed their hands. Find out more by working through a topic. Charles Rennie Mackintosh. James Clerk Maxwell. Pasteur's research led him to believe the ferment that produced Butyric acid was a microbe that lived in the absence of oxygen. Pasteur's experiments influenced Lister development of antiseptics in six different ways.

Firstly he discovered that fermination and putrefaction was caused by microbial metabolism; that microbes were abundant in the atmosphere and that each microbes produced a specific type of fermination. The fourth way was the discovery that some microbes derived oxygen from the air, known as aerobic organisms; others known as " anaerobic organisms " absorbed the gas metabolically; that organic or vegetable material, collected as a sterile manner neither fermented nor putrified and lastly, that the theory of spontaneous generation was fallacious.

The discovery was serendipitous, as he read them during the time that he was struggling to control post-surgical infections. Lister was one of the few surgeons who was able to accept Pasteur's conclusions without question. He accepted them as a simple explanation for a problem for which he had long experience. He was now convinced that infection and suppuration of wounds must be due to entry into the wound of minute living airborne creatures.

He recognised that contamination was the vector for infection, realising from the first that the surgeons hands, dressings and instruments would also be contaminated. However, Pasteur's work could only confirm the view, which Lister had always expressed that joseph lister scientist biography kids came from the air. Lister didn't realise that it was not the air but the vast number of different microbial life that was responsible.

As Lister's work at that time was derived directly from Pasteur's work, Lister probably thought that infection of the wound was due to a single organism. He had no conception, nor indeed did anybody else of the vast number of types of germs that existed in nature. The realisation that occurred after reading the papers, spurred him to determine how the hands, dressings and instruments he used could be rid of these ubiquitous organisms and how the wound could be cleared of them.

Pasteur suggested three methods to eliminate micro-organisms: filtration, exposure to heat, or exposure to chemical solutions. As the first two methods suggested by Pasteur were unsuitable for the treatment of human tissue, Lister experimented with the third idea. Lister was particularly interested in the efficacy of filtration and repeated many of Pasteur experiments in modified form for instruction in his class.

To test. In lister prepared an experiment to demonstrate to his students that the air carried organisms that could be killed by heating, he modified four flasks, by extending and drawing their necks into a narrow tube that was bent in at an acute angle. In the control flask the liquid urine quickly became infected with a mould, while the other flasks remained clear and unclouded as the dust and organisms could pass the angular bend.

Lister confirmed Pasteur's conclusions with his own experiments and decided to use his findings to develop antiseptic techniques for wounds. InFriedlieb Ferdinand Runge discovered phenolalso known as carbolic acid, which he derived in an impure form from coal tar. At that time, there was uncertainty between the substance of creosote — a chemical that had been used as a preservative on wood used for railway sleeper and ships since it protected the wood from rotting — and carbolic acid.

Upon hearing that creosote had been used for treating sewage in Carlisle, Lister obtained a sample from Anderson. Known as "German creosote", it was thick, smelly tarry substance. Lister's earliest experiments in antiseptic treatment were directed at treating compound fractures. In MarchLister's began his first experiment with carbolic acid on a year old patient, Neil Kelly who had suffered a severe compound fracture of the leg.

His treatment consisted of cleaning the wound of all blood clots then apply the undiluted carbolic acid by the use of forceps across the whole wound. A piece of lint soaked in the acid was then laid on on the leg, overlapping the wound and fixed by an adhesive plaster. A sheet of thin block tin or sheet lead was placed to cover the lint, to prevent the antiseptic evaporating.

This was further fixed with adhesive plaster and packing was used between the limb and the splints for the purpose of soaking up any blood or discharges. A crust formed that wasn't removed except to apply new antiseptic.

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While the treatment possessed many of the essential characteristics of the antiseptic dressings that Lister would subsequently introduce, it was a failure and supparation began to occur, leading to the death of the patient. The disadvantages of the first primitive dressing consisting of lint soaked in carbolic acid, was soon apparent. The German creosote was also far from ideal as it was irritating to the skin causing ulceration and then supparation that occasionally resulted in tissue necrosis.

It was also almost insoluble in water. Lister began to look for another source of phenol.

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Lister discovered that Frederick Crace Calvertan honorary chemisty professor from the Royal Manchester Institution was manufacturing joseph lister scientist biography kids quantities of phenol at a much finer purity and managed to obtain some. The phenol was in the form of small white crystals which liquified at 80 degrees farenheit and was readibly soluble in a ratio of parts of water and to any extent soluble in oil.

The watery solution could be used in a lotion of any strength and be used for disinfection of wounds while the solution in oil that served as a reservoir of antiseptic seemed likely to provide a suitable dressing. Lister began to experiment with the phenol and produced a new dressing made of a putty that consisted of carbonate of lime mixed with phenol and in boiled linseed oil in a ratio of or The history of antiseptic surgery in the years beforewas preventing or treating infection in accidental wounds, often received in battle.

On 12 AugustLister achieved success for the first time when he used full-strength carbolic acid to disinfect a compound fracture. He applied a piece of lint dipped in carbolic acid solution onto the wound of an year-old boy, James Greenlees, who had sustained a compound fracture after a cart wheel had passed over his left leg. After four days, he renewed the pad and discovered that no infection had developed, and after a total of six weeks he was amazed to discover that the boy's bones had fused back together, without suppuration.

On 19 Maythe first patient to use the improved method was presented at Listers accident ward with a compound fracture with extensive swelling and bruising. The patient was a 21 year-old casting moulder in an iron foundry who was supervising a crane when a chain broken and a metal box containing a sand mould for an iron pipe and weighing 12 hundredweightfell from a height of four feet and landed obliquely on his left leg.

Both of the leg bones were broken and a wound measuring 1. A secondary complication had occurred when air bubbles had mixed with the blood when the man was moved to the hospital. In such a case, the normal treatment would be amputation but Lister decided to treat the wound with phenol. He squeezed the leg to remove as much air and blood as possible.

Then he placed a piece of lint soaked in carbolic acid on the wound covered by tin foil. A bloody crust formed over the wound consisting of a scab that was free of bacteria. Lister saw for the first time how the scab was gradually converted into living tissue, even when new carbolic acid was being applied. Something that was entirely new. Unfortunately Hainy developed bed sores that became gangrenous and these were treated with nitric acid to remove the necrotic flesh and carbolic acid to sterlize the wound.

Hainy survived the injury. On 27 May, Lister wrote to his father expressing intense satisfaction stating "I tried the application of carbolic acid to the wound, to prevent decomposition of the blood and to prevent the fearful mischief of supparation. It is now eight days since the accident and patient has being going exactly as though the fracture were a simple one.

On 7 AugustHainy was released from hospital. He subsequently published his results in The Lancet in a joseph lister scientist biography kids of six articles, running from March through July Before the publication of these articles, the French doctor Jules Lemaire, in a book from reprinted inhad already pointed out the antiseptic power of carbolic acid.

On 21 Septemberin the Edinburgh Daily ReviewJames Young Simpson using a pseudonym expressed the idea that Lister's last article was misleading, as it "attribute[d] the first surgical employment of carbolic acid to Professor Lister". Simpson then mentioned Lemaire's work. Lister instructed surgeons under his responsibility to wear clean gloves and wash their hands before and after operations with five per cent carbolic acid solutions.

Instruments were also washed in the same solution and assistants sprayed the solution in the operating theatre. One of his additional suggestions was to stop using porous natural materials in manufacturing the handles of medical instruments. Lister then returned to Edinburgh as successor to Syme as Professor of Surgery at the University of Edinburgh and continued to develop improved methods of antisepsis and asepsis.

Amongst those he worked with there, who helped him and his work, was the senior apothecary and later MD, Alexander Gunn. Lister's fame had spread by then, and audiences of often came to hear him lecture. As the germ theory of disease became more understood, it was realised that infection could be better avoided by preventing bacteria from entering wounds in the first place.

This led to the rise of aseptic surgery. On the hundredth anniversary of his death, inLister was considered by most in the medical field as "the father of modern surgery". Although Lister was so roundly honoured in later life, his ideas about the transmission of infection and the use of antiseptics were widely criticised in his early career.

The first experimentalist surgeon to question the validity of airborne microorganisms, was the surgeon and professor of medicine at Edinburgh, John Hughes Bennett. In his experiments, Bennet reported that he "proved" that germs generate spontaneously, so one could never create a germ-free environment. It was likely that Hughes Bennett never adequately sterilized his experimental apparatus correctly.

On 8 NovemberLister gave a lecture on Germ theory, where he elaborated on the origin of germs, as a rebuttal of Bennet's theory. Inat the meetings of the British Association at LeedsLister's ideas were mocked; and again, inthe medical journal The Lancet warned the entire medical profession against his progressive ideas. However, Lister did have some supporters including Marcus Beck, a consultant surgeon at University College Hospital, who not only practiced Lister's antiseptic technique, but included it in the next edition of one of the main surgical textbooks of the time.

Lister's use of carbolic acid proved problematic, and he eventually repudiated it for superior methods. The spray irritated eyes and respiratory tracts, and the soaked bandages were suspected of damaging tissue, so his teachings and methods were not always adopted in their entirety. Because his ideas were based on germ theory, which was in its infancy, their adoption was slow.

General criticism of his methods was exacerbated by the fact that he found it hard to express himself adequately in writing, so they seemed complicated, unorganised, and impractical. Therefore, Lister tested the results of spraying instruments, the surgical incisions, and dressings with a solution of carbolic acid. Lister found that the solution swabbed on wounds remarkably reduced the incidence of gangrene.

On 18 February, in reply to a tentative approach from a representative of Kings College, Lister stated that he would be willing to accept the Chair on the proviso that he could radically reform the teaching there. There was no doubt that Lister mission was both evangelical and apostolic and this was his true purpose in moving to London. British surgeon John Wood was originally next in line and was elected to the chair.

Wood was hostile to Lister obtaining the chair. On 8 Marchin a private letter to an associate, Lister contrasted their differing teaching methods and stated in no uncertain terms his opinion of Fergusson, "The mere fact of Fergusson having held the clinical chair is surely a matter of no great moment". In a comment to another colleague, Lister stated that his goal in taking the appointment was "the thorough working of the antiseptic system with a view to its diffusion in the Metropolis".

At a memorial held by his students to persuade him to remain, Lister criticised London teaching. His impromptu speech was heard by a reporter, that ensured it was published in the London and Edinburgh newspapers. This jeopardised Lister's position, as word reached the governing council at King's College, who awarded the chair to John Wood, a few weeks later.

However, negotiations were renewed in May and he was finally elected on 18 June to a newly created Chair of Clinical Surgery. The second Clinical Surgery Chair was created specifically for Lister, as the hospital feared the negative publicity that would have resulted had Lister not been elected. Lister began teaching on the first day of October.

The hospital made it mandatory that all students should attend Lister's lecturers. Attendance was small compared to the four hundred who would regularly attend his classes in Edinburgh. Lister's conditions of employment were met, but he was only provided with 24 beds, instead of the 60 beds that he was used to in Edinburgh. Lister stipulated that he should be able to bring from Edinburgh four people who would constitute the core of his new staff at the hospital.

These were Watson Cheyne who became his assistant surgeon, John Stewart, an anatomical artist and senior assistant, along with W. Dobie and James Altham who were Lister's dressers surgical assistants who dressed wounds. There was considerable friction at Lister's first lecture, both from students who heckled him and staff. Even the nurses were hostile.

This was clearly illustrated in October when a patient, Lizzie Thomas, who travelled from Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to be treated for a Psoas abscess, was not admitted due to not having the correct paperwork.

Joseph lister scientist biography kids: (–). A surgeon and medical

Lister could hardly believe that such a lack of sympathy from imperious nurses could exist. More so, such a state of mind was a real danger to his patients, as it depended on loyal staff to carry out the preparations required for antiseptic surgery. On 1 OctoberLister held the customary introductory address, in essence his inaugural lecture in London, with the subject, "The nature of fermentation".

Lister described the joseph lister scientist biography kids of milk and explained how putrefaction was caused by fermentation of blood and, in the process, tried to prove that all fermentation was due to microorganisms. For his demonstration he used a series of test tubes containing milk that were loosely covered with glass caps. Although air had entered the test tubes and the milk had not decomposed demonstrated that air was responsible for fermentation.

The experiment had two conclusions, first that unboiled milk had no tendency to ferment and secondly that an organism that Lister had isolated, Bacterium lactis was the cause of lactic acid fermentation. The address was badly received. In defence, John Stewart described it as: "a brilliant and most hopeful beginning of what we regarded as a campaign in the enemy's country There seemed to be a colossal apathy, an inconceivable indifference to the light which, to our minds, shone so brightly, a monstrous inertia to the force of new ideas.

In OctoberLister performed an operation on a patient, Francis Smith, that wasn't considered life-threatening. The open operation on a fractured patellain front of students, involved wiring the two fragments together and was likely the first case in which a healthy knee-joint was ever opened. In OctoberSt Clair Thomson gathered together Lister's first seven patients who had knee operations for examination at the Medical Society of London meeting.

He also developed a method of repairing kneecaps with metal wire and improved the technique of mastectomy. He was also known for being the first surgeon to use catgut ligatures, sutures, and rubber drains, and developing an aortic tourniquet. He also introduced a diluted spray of carbolic acid combined with its surgical use, however he abandoned the carbolic acid sprays in the late s after he saw it provided no beneficial change in the outcomes of the surgeries performed with the carbolic acid spray.

The only reported reactions were minor symptoms that did not affect the surgical outcome as a whole, like coughing, irritation of the eye, and minor tissue damage among his patients who were exposed to the carbolic acid sprays during the surgery. In DecemberLister attended the celebration in honour of the 70th birthday of Pasteur at the Sorbonne in Paris, The theatre, designed to hold people was crowded and included the university governing staff, ministers of state, ambassadors, the President of France Sadi Carnot and representatives from the Institut de France.

At Lister, invited to give the address, received a great ovation when he stood up. In his speech he spoke about the debt that he and surgery owned to Pasteur. In JanuaryLister was present when Pasteur's body was laid in his tomb at the Pasteur Institute. Infour days into their spring holiday in Rapallo, Italy, Agnes Lister died from acute pneumonia.

While still responsible for the wards at Kings College Hospital, Lister's private practice ceased along with an appetite for experimental work. Social gatherings were severely curtailed. Studying and writing lost appeal for him and he sank into religious melancholy. Lister was presented with a portrait painted by Scottish artist John Henry Lorimer, in a small presentation, held in recognition of the affection and esteem that felt by his colleagues.

Despite suffering a strokehe still came into the public light from time to time. He had for several years been a Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoriaand from March was appointed the Serjeant Surgeon to the Queen, thus becoming the senior surgeon in the Medical Household of the Royal Household of the sovereign. On 24 Junewith a day history of appendicitis with a distinct mass on the right lower quadrant, Edward was operated on by Sir Frederick Treves two days before his scheduled coronation.

Like all internal surgery at the time, the appendectomy needed by the King still posed an extremely high risk of death by post-operational infection, and surgeons did not dare operate without consulting Britain's leading surgical authority. Lister obligingly advised them in the latest antiseptic surgical methods which they followed to the letterand the King survived, later telling Lister, "I know that if it had not been for you and your work, I wouldn't be sitting here today.

Lord Lister died on 10 February at his country home at the age of The first part of Lister's funeral was a large public service held at Westminster Abbeywhich took place at 1. His body was moved from his house and taken to The Chapel of St. Lister's body was then buried in a plot in the south-east corner of central chapel, attended by a small group of his family and friends.

Many tributes from learned societies all over the world were published in The Times on that day. A memorial service was held in St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh on the same day. Glasgow University held a memorial service in Bute Hall on 15 February A marble medallion of Lister was placed in the north transept of Westminster Abbey, that sits alongside four other noted men of science, DarwinStokesAdamsand Watt.

Following his death, the Lord Lister Memorial Fund was established by the Royal Society as a public subscription to raise monies for the public good in honour of Lord Lister. It led to the founding of the Lister Medal, considered the most prestigious prize that can be awarded to a surgeon. The order was restricted to 30 living Germans and as many foreigners.

He received the order from the King on 8 Augustand was sworn a member of the Privy Council at Buckingham Palace on 11 August In Decemberthe King of Denmark bestowed upon Lister the Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog, an Order of joseph lister scientist biography kids that gave him more pleasure than any of his later honours.

In MayLister was awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh, that included the delivery of a short oration or lecture, that was held at the Synod Hall in Edinburgh. Inhe was elected vice president of the college, but declined the nomination for office of president, as he wished to devote his remaining time to further research.

InLister was awarded the College Gold Medal, their highest honour. Lister was elected to the Royal Society in