From the ancient worlds of Hippocrates and Avicenna to the early 20th century hospitals of Paul Ehrlich and Lillian Wald to the modern-day laboratories of François Barré-Sinoussi and Barry Marshall, Germ Theory brings to life the inspiring stories of medical pioneers whose work helped change the very fabric of our understanding of how we think about and treat infectious diseases.

In beautifully crafted narratives, author Robert Gaynes describes and presents compelling stories, including

How Edward Jenner, the pioneer of vaccination, faced down scores of naysayers
How a chance discovery led Louis Pasteur to the idea that the virulence of microbes can be altered
How scientists in France, the Netherlands, and Denmark produced penicillin during World War 2 while keeping their efforts hidden from the Nazis

List of Illustrations vii

Foreword xi
Preface xiii
Special Note xv
Acknowledgments xvii
About the Author xix
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine 11
Chapter 3 Avicenna, a Thousand Years Ahead of His Time 29
Chapter 4 Girolamo Fracastoro and Contagion in Renaissance Medicine 41
Chapter 5 Antony van Leeuwenhoek and the Birth of Microscopy 57
Chapter 6 The Demise of the Humoral Theory of Medicine 71
Chapter 7 Edward Jenner and the Discovery of Vaccination 85
Chapter 8 Ignaz Semmelweis and the Control of Puerperal Sepsis 105
Chapter 9 Louis Pasteur and the Germ Theory of Disease 127
Chapter 10 Robert Koch and the Rise of Bacteriology 153
Chapter 11 Joseph Lister, the Man Who Made Surgery Safe 181
Chapter 12 Paul Ehrlich and the Magic Bullet 205
Chapter 13 Lillian Wald and the Foundations of Modern Public Health 229
Chapter 14 Alexander Fleming and the Discovery of Penicillin 243
Chapter 15 Françoise Barré- Sinoussi and the Discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus 273
Chapter 16 Barry Marshall and Helicobacter pylori in Peptic Ulcer Disease 295
Chapter 17 Anthony Fauci: America's Top Infectious Disease Doctor 315
Chapter 18 Conclusions 343

Index 351