1700-1900: Ideas about the causes of disease and illness Flashcards
1
Q
What was the Spontaneous Generation Theory?
A
The Theory that when matter decays, tiny “animalcules” miraculously are grown.
2
Q
What influence did Pasteur’s Germ Theory (1861) have?
A
It was slow to be accepted in Britain, but he made the link between illness and microbes.
Germs are everywhere.
They are not evenly distributed.
They can be killed by heat.
Germs are the cause of decay, not the result of it.
3
Q
What was the importance of Koch’s work on specific microbes?
A
The exact cause of big killers such as Cholera and Tuberculosis were known.
With the germ identified it was possible to create scientific vaccines and search for precise chemical cures.
