Joseph Lister

A towering figure in the development of modern medicine, Joseph Lister is probably best known as the pioneer of antiseptic surgery.

Joseph first arrived in Edinburgh in 1853, having graduated from University College London Medical School.

In the early stages of his career, he assisted the clinical lecturer James Syme at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He also began conducting his own physiological and pathological experiments. They included a study of the early stages of inflammation, the nervous control of arteries, the structure of muscle fibres and the study of the nervous control of the gut.

In the 1860s, as a surgeon in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, he introduced carbolic acid (modern-day phenol) as a steriliser, applying Louis Pasteur’s recent discoveries about the role of airborne bacteria.

In 1869, he returned to Edinburgh, succeeding James Syme as a professor of surgery. He continued to develop improved methods of antisepsis and asepsis, resulting in greatly reduced infection rates on hospital wards.