History of Science 2220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Old Age, Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, Tubercle

• School: Western University
• Department: History of Science
• Course: History of Science 2220
• Professor: Dorotea Gucciardo

Document Summary

Refers to bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, etc. The belief that germs exist is one of the most widely accepted precepts in western medicine. The belief is so engrained that it almost defies logic that people at one point didn"t believe in them. The germ theory of disease has considerations: came into common use in the english language in the 1870"s, scientific shorthand to refer to the people that were most relevant in the development of that theory. The people that were most relevant were between the 1860"s to 1910"s: the germ theory of disease consists of two propositions, animal and human diseases are caused by a distinctive species of micro-organisms. These organisms are present in the air and water: germs could not generate spontaneously. They had to come from a previous case of the exact same disease: some believers did not believe that germs were not spontaneously produced.