Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister

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Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister.jpg
Born

April 5 1827(1827-04-05)
Upton, Essex

Died 10 February 1912 (aged 84)

Walmer, Kent

Nationality United Kingdom
Field Medicine
Institutions University of Glasgow
University of Edinburgh
University of London
Alma mater University of London
Known for Surgical sterile techniques

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (April 5, 1827–February 10, 1912) was an English surgeon and professor of surgery who introduced antiseptic surgical techniques. He is sometimes known as the "father of modern surgery because of his overcoming one of the major obstacles to successful surgery, the control of infection. He successfully introduced carbolic acid (phenol) to sterilize surgical instruments and to clean wounds.

route of acceptance


christian faith


Biography

Early life

Joseph Lister was born on April 5, 1827 in Upton, Essex, England, the second of three children born to Joseph Jackson Lister, a pioneer of the compound microscope. A successful wine merchant and an amateur scientist, Joseph Jackson Lister designed a microscope lens that did not distort colors—a contribution that lead to his being made a Fellow of the Royal Society, a prestigious British scientific association (Lamont 1992).

Joseph Lister came from a prosperous Quaker home and attended Quaker schools in Hertfordshire and London. At these schools, science subjects were emphasized and he also became fluent in French and German which were also the leading languages of medical research (Nuland 2005).

Joseph Lister then attended the University of London, one of only a few institutions that was open to Quakers at that time. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1847 at the age of 25. He then contracted smallpox and after he was recovered, he attended the University of London as a medical student, qualifying as a doctor in 1850 and obtaining bachelor's degrees in medicine and Surgery and being presented with two university gold medals for his outstanding grades. In 1852, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Lamont 1992).

In 1853 Joseph Lister went to Scotland to spend time with surgeon James Syme at the University of Edinburgh. Professor Syme was considered one of, if not the greatest teacher of surgery at that time (Lamont 1992). Lister stayed there and in 1854 became his assistant. Three years later, he married Agnes Syme, James Syme's daughter, and left the Quaker faith, becoming a member of the Episcopal Church with Agnes. For their honeymoon, they spent 3 months visiting leading medical centers (Hospitals and Universities) in France and Germany, by this time Agnes was enamored of medical research and partnered with him in the laboratory for the rest of his life, writing up his notes and helping with experiments.

Since being a medical student, Lister not only studied and practiced medicine, but also conducted medical research, such as exploring the actions of muscles in the eye and skin, the mechanisms involved in blood coagulation, and the role of blood vessels during early stages of infections. His research culminated in his being recognized in 1860, as his father was before him, as a Fellow of the Royal Society (Lamont 1992).

Groundbreaking work on antiseptics

At the time the usual explanation for wound infection was that the exposed tissues were damaged by chemicals in the air or via a stinking "miasma" in the air. The sick wards actually smelled bad, not due to a "miasma" but due to the rotting of wounds. Hospital wards were occasionally aired out at midday, but Florence Nightingale's doctrine of fresh air was still seen as science fiction. Facilities for washing hands or the patient's wounds did not exist and it was even considered unnecessary for the surgeon to wash his hands before he saw a patient. The work of Ignaz Semmelweis and Oliver Wendell Holmes were not heeded.


After six years he earned a professorship of surgery at the University of Glasgow.

Lister became aware of a paper published (in French) by the French chemist Louis Pasteur which showed that rotting and fermentation could occur without any oxygen if micro-organisms were present. Lister confirmed this with his own experiments. If micro-organisms were causing gangrene, the problem was how to get rid of them. Pasteur suggested three methods: filter, heat, or expose them to chemical solutions. The first two were inappropriate in a human wound, so Lister experimented with the third.

Lister at age 69 in 1896

In 1867 Joseph discovered carbolic acid. This became the first widely used antiseptic. Carbolic acid (phenol) had been in use as a means of deodorizing sewage, so Lister tested the results of spraying instruments, the surgical incisions, and dressings with a solution of it. Lister found that carbolic acid solution swabbed on wounds markedly reduced the incidence of gangrene and subsequently published a series of articles on the Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery describing this procedure in Volume 90, Issue 2299 of The Lancet published on 21 September 1867.

He also made surgeons wear clean gloves and wash their hands before and after operations with 5% carbolic acid solutions. Instruments were also washed in the same solution and assistants sprayed the solution in the operating theatre. One of his conclusions was to stop using porous natural materials in manufacturing the handles of medical instruments.

Lister left Glasgow in 1869, returning 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. His fame had spread by then and audiences of 400 often came to hear him lecture.

As the germ theory of disease became more widely accepted, it was realised that infection could be better avoided by preventing bacteria from getting into wounds in the first place. This led to the rise of sterile surgery. Some consider Lister "the father of modern antisepsis."

In 1879 Listerine mouthwash was named after him for his work in antisepsis. Also named in his honour is the bacterial genus Listeria, typified by the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.

Surgical technique

Lister moved from Scotland to King's College Hospital, in London, and became the second man in England to operate on a brain tumor[citation needed]. He also developed a method of repairing kneecaps with metal wire and improved the technique of mastectomy. His discoveries were greatly praised and he was made Baron Lister of Lyme Regis and became one of the twelve original members of the Order of Merit.

Among his students at King's College London was Robert Hamilton Russell who later moved to Australia.

In life Lister was said to be a shy, unassuming man, deeply religious in his beliefs, and uninterested in social success or financial gain.

Later life

Lister retired from practice after his wife, who had long helped him in research, died in 1893 in Italy, during one of the few holidays they allowed themselves. Studying and writing lost appeal for him and he sank into religious melancholy. Despite suffering a stroke, he still came into the public light from time to time. Edward VII came down with appendicitis two days before his coronation. The surgeons did not dare operate without consulting Britain's leading surgical authority. The king later told Lister "I know that if it had not been for you and your work, I wouldn't be sitting here today".

Lister died on 10 February 1912 at his country home in Walmer, Kent at the age of 84. After a funeral service at Westminster Abbey, he was buried at Hampstead Cemetery, Fortune Green, London in a plot to the south-west of central chapel.

Legacy and honours

Lister was president of the Royal Society between 1895 and 1900. Following his death, a Memorial Fund was set up in his name to honour his memory. Several lectures and statues were funded or established in this way. Eventually, in 1924, the Memorial Fund was used to establish the Lister Medal, which became the most prestigious prize that could be awarded to a surgeon.

A British Institution of Preventive Medicine, previously named after Edward Jenner was renamed in 1899 in honour of Lister.

Two postage stamps were issued in September 1965 to honour Lister for his contributions to antiseptic surgery.

Lister is one of the two surgeons in the United Kingdom who have the honour of having a public monument in London, Lister's stands in Portland Place (the other surgeon is John Hunter). There is a statue of Lister in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, celebrating his links with the city.

Bibliography

  • Lister Ward by Martin Goldman. Contains black and plates of activities at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh [1]
  • Lord Lister by Sir Rickman Godlee. Macmillan & Co, London, 1917 - reissued by The Heirs of Hippocrates, Gryphon Editions, 1993
  • Lister as I knew him by John Ruud Leeson. London, Baillière, Tindall and Cox, 1927.
  • Joseph, Baron Lister, Centenary Volume. 1827-1927, by A. Logan Turner. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1927
  • Joseph Lister – Father of Modern Surgery, by Rhoda Truax. Bobbs Merrill, Indianapolis and New York, 1944
  • Joseph Lister (the friend of man), by Hector Charles Cameron. W. Heinemann, 1948
  • Joseph Lister, by Kenneth Walker. Hutchinson, London, 1956
  • Master Surgeon - A Biography of Joseph Lister, by Laurence Farmer, M.D. Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York, 1962
  • Joseph Lister, 1827 - 1912, by Richard B Fisher. Stein and Day, New York, 1977
  • Joseph Lister and Antiseptics, by A J Harding Rains. Wayland, East Sussex, 1978 (2nd impression).
  • The Collected Papers of Joseph Lister (Vols 1 and 2) by Joseph Lister. Classics of Medicine Library, Birmingham, 1979 (a facsimile edition of the Collected Papers first published in 1909).
  • Joseph Lister and the Story of Antiseptics, by John Bankston. Mitchell Lane Publishing Inc, 2004 (hardcover)
  • Joseph Lister – The Father of Antiseptics, by Peggy J. Parkes. Blackbirch Pr Inc, 2005
  • Pioneers of Science- Joseph Lister, by Douglas McTavish, New York, 1992

See also

  • Joseph Sampson Gamgee
  • Discoveries of anti-bacterial effects of penicillium moulds before Fleming
  • Ignaz Semmelweis

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. From a copy of Lister Ward First published by Adam Hilger UK in 1987 with an ISBN 0 85274 562 1

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i2/scientists.asp First published: Creation 14(2):48–51 March 1992 by Ann Lamont

Nuland, Sherwin B. 2005. Doctors the history of scientific medicine revealed through biography. Chantilly, VA: Teaching Co. 1598030302

External links


Peerage of the United Kingdom


New Title Baron Lister
1897–1912
Title extinct

Template:Royal Society presidents 1800s

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