Microbes and Men

The Invisible Enemy

Sep 18, 197456 min

In the 1840s, the Vienna General Hospital was one of the great centres of European medicine, yet many mothers died of 'childbed fever'. Ignaz Semmelweis set out to find the origin.

A Germ is Life

Sep 25, 197456 min

2: A Germ is Life by MARTIN WORTH In the small French town of Arbois stand the graves of Louis Pasteur's three young daughters. Two had died from typhoid, one from an inoperable tumour - a stark reminder of the background to his struggle to

Men of Little Faith

Oct 2, 197456 min

3: Men of Little Faith by JOHN WILES The early 1870s. Although a revolution is under way in the understanding of disease, ignorance and opposition to the new ideas exist at all levels. Can Pasteur or Koch find a practical outcome of their e

Certain Death

Oct 9, 197456 min

4: Certain Death by BRUCE NORMAN On 6 July 1885 young Joseph Meister was brought to Pasteur's laboratory. He had been savaged by a rabid dog and bitten 14 times. Death from rabies seemed certain, unless Pasteur would treat him with an untri

The Tuberculin Affair

Oct 16, 197456 min

5: The Tuberculin Affair by MARTIN WORTH 1890 was the year Germany was to play host to the world's most eminent doctors at an International Congress. For eight years Koch had been working slowly towards a cure for tuberculosis. Now the pres

The Search for the Magic Bullet

Oct 23, 197456 min

6: The Search for the Magic Bullet by MARTIN WORTH At the turn of the century two men, one in London, the other in Frankfurt, were embarking on research which each hoped would provide the cures so sorely needed. At the time it would have be