Famous Medical Scientists
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This page is where you can learn all about the people who had a big impact on medical history: when they lived, what they did, and how they accomplished it. The medicines we use when we are sick are something we take for granted but maybe if we stepped into the lives of their creators we would discover how complicated these concoctions really are. Years of scientific research led to the discovery of many life-saving remedies. |
| Year | Scientist | Information |
| 1668 | Antony Van Leeuwenhoek | Antony Van Leeuwenhoek discovers microscopic life and reports his findings to the scientists of the Royal Society of London. |
| 1796 | Edward Jenner | Edward Jenner develops and tests a small-pox vaccine with cowpox virus. |
| 1854 | John Snow | John Snow determines the source of the 1854 cholera epidemic in London. |
| 1865 | Joseph Lister | Joseph Lister is the first to use antiseptics to reduce infection after surgery. |
| 1876 |
Robert Koch
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He presented his proof that germs cause disease in 1876. |
| 1882 | In 1882, Koch identified the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. | |
| 1882 | Louis Pasteur
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Louis Pasteur demonstrates that rabies is caused by a transferable agent too small to be seen with a microscope. |
| 1885 | Pasteur makes the first use of his vaccine against rabies. | |
| 1901 | Walter Reed | Miltary surgeon Walter Reed proves that yellow fever is cause by a virus transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. |
| 1928 | Alexander Fleming | Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin. |
| 1931 | Ernst Ruska Max Knoll |
Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll build a prototype electron microscope. This invention enables scientists to view viruses for the first time. (No link for these scientists.) |
| 1935 | Wendall Stanley | Wendall Stanley, a biochemist, discovers the nature of the virus by isolating the virus responsible for tobacco mosaic disease. (No link for this scientist.) |
| 1936 | Ernst Boris Chain | Ernst Boris Chain and Howard W. Florey extract and purify penicillin, helping to usher in the modern age of antibiotics. |
| 1953 | Selman Waksman | Microbiologist Selman Waksman discovers streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis. |
| 1955 | Jonas Salk | Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine is released for use by the public |
| 1960 | Albert Sabine | Albert Sabine’s oral polio vaccine is approved for public use. (No link for this scientist.) |
| 1978 | Donald Henderson | Smallpox is eradicated through the organizing efforts of Donald Henderson and the World Health Organization. |
| 1983 to 1984 | Luc Montagnier | Luc Montagnier (France) and Robert Gallo (United States) independently identify the virus which causes AIDS. |
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