Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister entered surgery at a time when surviving an operation did not necessarily mean surviving the days that followed. Infection, gangrene and hospital disease routinely killed patients even after technically successful procedures.

Born into a scientifically minded Quaker family, Lister developed the habits of observation, experimentation and disciplined reasoning that would eventually transform medicine. His career took him from University College London to Edinburgh, Glasgow and King's College London, placing him at the centre of one of the great revolutions in nineteenth-century science.

Inspired by the work of Louis Pasteur, Lister recognised that microorganisms could explain the destructive changes occurring in surgical wounds. His experiments with carbolic acid were imperfect and often controversial, but the principle behind them was revolutionary: infection was not simply an unavoidable consequence of surgery. It could be understood, reduced and prevented.

Lister faced resistance from established surgeons, refined his techniques repeatedly and eventually saw antiseptic principles spread throughout Britain, Europe and beyond. By the end of his life he had become Lord Lister, President of the Royal Society and one of the most honoured medical figures of the Victorian age.

Joseph Lister: The Surgeon Who Conquered Infection tells the story of the man who helped turn surgery from a desperate gamble into a modern scientific discipline, while recognising the many scientists, surgeons, assistants and institutions that contributed to that transformation.