Leprosy and the Germ Theory

The germ theory of disease, one of the great accomplishments of science, was not established for two centuries after Anton van Leeuenhoek in 1674 saw microscopic, motile “animalcules” in stagnant pond water. These were relatively large single-celled and multicellular organisms. Actual observation of bacteria was beyond the capacity of the primitive microscopes of the time. The idea that such living organisms could be the cause of disease seems to have been first put forth by Carl von Linne (1707-1778) of taxonomy fame, and a few years later in 1765 more specifically by the Finnish physician Isaac Uddman {1733-1781}. In his (Read more...)

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