"From Hippocrates and Avicenna to Paul Ehrlich and Lillian Wald, Germ Theory brings to life a dozen medical pioneers whose work changed the way we think about and treat infection."--Back cover.

Introduction -- Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine -- Avicenna, a thousand years ahead of his time -- Girolamo Fracastoro and Contagion in renaissance medicine -- Antony van Leeuwenhoek and the birth of microscopy -- The demise of the humoral theory of medicine -- Edward Jenner and the discovery of vaccination -- Ignaz Semmelweis and the control of puerperal sepsis -- Louis Pasteur and the germ theory of disease -- Robert Koch and the rise of bacteriology -- Joseph Lister, the man who made surgery safe -- Paul Ehrlich and the magic bullet -- Alexander Fleming and the discovery of penicillin -- Lillian Wald and the foundations of modern public health -- Conclusions.