
Joseph Lister
Joseph Lister was born on 5th of April 1827 in Upton, Essex, England, and he is among those personalities who changed the ways of surgical procedures. Lister’s father was actually a respected microscopist, and thus, this made him follow the medical innovation career.

Lister's academic journey at University College London and the University of Edinburgh Medical School was the crucible in which his future as a medical pioneer was forged. His career at the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary was defined by a relentless battle against postoperative infections, a fight he would eventually win through the introduction of carbolic acid for sterilizing surgical instruments and cleaning wounds. This practice, inspired by Louis Pasteur's germ theory, led to a dramatic reduction in infection rates.

University College London and the University of Edinburgh Medical School – this is where the great surgeon Lister was studying and created the peculiar principles of surgeries. In the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary he had to fight against post surgical infections and used carbolic acid to clean the surgical instruments and to clean the wounds as suggested by Pasteur’s germ theory. This considerably helped in avoiding as many people getting infected as possible.

Later in the same year, Lister published the paper “On the Antiseptic Principle in the Practice of Surgery “in which he advocated for surgery to be cleaned and antiseptic . People initially doubted free innovational methods but they were implemented in all over the world and changed the practice of surgery and treatment for patients.


Knighted was Lister in 1883, and he eventually was given the title of baron in 1897 in consideration for his services. Thus, his personal life, especially his marriage to Agnes Syme, expressed his dedication to such a cause.
This is the historic account of Joseph Lister, and it can be stated that his contributions to the history of medicine are immense. As for the themes, it is necessary to note that his focus on cleanliness and the sterilization as well as the use of antiseptics contributed to preventing numerous deaths and gave the world new benchmarks in the field of medicine. Due to his esteemed title of the “Father of Antiseptic Surgery,” his dedication towards the cause of constant observation and performing of experiments is still made to be noteworthy and admired by the members of the medical society, which affirms the role of one key person in the ushering of change.