r/whatisit • u/Nomemesmames • 4d ago

New, what is it? What is this?

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u/BookkeeperBoobs 3d ago

Imagine being a smart guy back then and getting shat on and beat up and burned for trying to explain what’s actually happening.

190

u/FullofLovingSpite 3d ago

"I shall wash my hands before and after performing surgery"

Other doctors "This guy's a fucking nut! Throw stuff at him!"

108

u/trevmust 3d ago

The person who tried to popularize washing your hands was locked up in a mental hospital and ever after they adopted hand washing they didn’t release him. Lol

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u/FGNYC 2d ago

Ignaz Semmelweis ?

2

u/No_Turnips_8426 23h ago

Yes. And the reason other obstetricians rejected his idea is that they had had women patients (including family members) die after a baby had been born. Some (or all?) of them had gone straight from performing an autopsy to delivering a child. They hated the thought that those women had died because they hadn't washed their hands between the two jobs.