Joseph Lister

I walked along Rutland Street and came across what appears to be a new plaque outside Number 11, celebrating Joseph Lister who lived at this property from 1856-1860. So I created a collage of the relevant images.

Lister came to Edinburgh in 1853, after graduating in medicine in London. He worked closely with James Syme, the celebrated Professor of Surgery in Edinburgh, becoming his assistant and marrying his daughter. In 1860 he was appointed to the Chair of Surgery in Glasgow, and it was there that he first applied Louis Pasteur’s recent discoveries about the role of airborne bacteria in fermentation to the prevention of infection in surgery.  In 1866 he introduced carbolic acid as an antiseptic, to kill airborne bacteria and prevent their transmission into wounds from the air of the operating theatre.
In 1869 he returned to Edinburgh as successor to Syme as Professor of Surgery, and continued to develop improved methods of antisepsis and asepsis, with greatly reduced infection rates.
Lister's work led to a reduction in post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients, distinguishing him as the "father of modern surgery"

If you look closely at the plaque on the front railing you might spot a spelling mistake:  ‘honor’ is American English 

The mouthwash LISTERINE® is named after Joseph Lister.  

Continuing the medical theme, I reflect on the Covid-19 infection figures from yesterday reported as 62,322 new cases in the UK. Quite depressing and no sign we are turning the corner. I also reflect on how (and why) the mainstream media reports the total UK figure and not the nations and regions breakdown. Of course it is not a competition but when there are regional variations I think it is useful to know. For example, Scotland having 8.2% of the UK population reported 2039 new cases yesterday which is less than half the UK average. This is not a cause for celebration and these figures are still not good, but let's hope that we don't experience the levels of infection occurring down south.  .