He was much earlier though and germ theory didn’t exist yet, so he couldn’t explain why washing your hands would work. It didn’t make any sense based on the medical ideas of the time, so people saw his recommendation to wash hands as a superstition. Then he went insane as doctors continued to not wash their hands, resulting in many mothers dying from infections after birth. At least with Lister, he could explain his rationale via germ theory.
Comment on They're all dead now, I wonder who got the last laugh?
nevemsenki@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Funny how Semmelweis got similarly shitty treatment for the same idea. Though he wasn’t so much as laughed at as much as beaten to death in a psych ward.
SuperIce@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Tetsuo@jlai.lu 6 months ago
Didn’t know at all about Semmelweis. Very interesting… and sad.
nevemsenki@lemmy.world 6 months ago
He really deserved better. Societal momentum is tough to go against, and can easily beat one down… oftentimes literally.