Inoculation and Germ Theory

1. Inoculation and Germ Theory By Mr Day Downloaded from SchoolHistory.co.uk

2. Lesson Objectives • To learn about the development of inoculation and germ theory (micro biology) to medicine and assess its importance.

3. Part 1 Inoculation

4. Edward Jenner and Inoculation • Read the sheet that you have been given on Edward Jenner. • Describe in your book if you believe that Edward Jenner mad a breakthrough or a development in the history of medicine. • Don’t write huge amounts of information already on the sheet. You are evaluating the significance of his discovery.

5. Significance of Jenner • This was a massive breakthrough in the prevention of disease. • Smallpox was a massive killer on a worldwide scale. • It is almost impossible to estimate how many lives were saved by his ‘discovery’.

6. Opposition • Many people could not accept that it was natural to inject matter that came from a cow. • Some doctors gave inoculation a bad name. Patients were injected with smallpox by accident or with dirty needles.

8. Part 2 The Development of Germ Theory and Micro Biology

9. Spontaneous Generation • By 1800 some doctors were beginning to speculate about germs or micro-organisms. This was mainly due to the invention of the microscope. • Those doctors that believed germs existed believed they were the result of disease and not the cause of it! • This idea was called spontaneous generation.

10. Micro Organisms

11. Pasteur and Germ Theory • Louis Pasteur was the man that made the breakthrough and linked germs to disease. • He made his discovery by accident, in 1857 when investigating why sugar beat soured unexpectedly. • He proved that the Sugar Beat soured because of germs carried in the air. • He devised an experiment to prove this. (details in your text book)

12. Pasteur and Germ Theory • Even though his experiment supported what he was saying there were a number of people that simply refused to believe what he was saying. The idea of invisible life was simply too big a leap of faith for some to make. • Other scientists were convinced.

13. Pasteur’s Influence • His influence was huge. • He discovered vaccines for chicken cholera. (1880) • Anthrax (1881) • Rabies (1885) • What is even more remarkable is that in 1868 he suffered a massive stroke that had left him paralysed down one side of his body.

14. Robert Koch • Koch took Pasteur’s work a step further. • He would spend his working like looking to link particular germs to particular diseases. • His first major breakthrough came in 1875 when he identified the microbe for anthrax. • With the development of technology he discovered microbes that had preciously been invisible to the most powerful microscopes. • He even developed ways of staining the microbes with dyes so he could calculate their life span and rates of reproduction.

15. Significance • In 1882 he discovered the germ that caused tuberculosis. (TB) • In 1883 he discovered the germ that caused cholera. • With his work he ‘proved’ what the real cause of disease was. • This paved the way for other scientists to take up the challenge and conduct research. Many did just that.

16. Rivalry! • Koch was German, Pasteur was French. • Both men took a dislike to the other and in turn they inspired each other to new heights. • It is difficult to judge whether this rivalry helped the development of micro biology or hindered it. • Both men continued to push boundaries and the rate of progress and discoveries during this era was stunning.