Girolamo Fracastoro
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Girolamo Fracastoro was an Italian physician, poet, and scholar in mathematics, geography and astronomy. Fracastoro subscribed to the philosophy of atomism, and rejected appeals to hidden causes in sc
Portrait of Girolamo Fracastoro by Titian, c.1528
The statue in its context
The statue with the inscription
Hieronymi Fracastorii Poemata Omnia (1718)
Germ theory of disease
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The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory explaining the cause of infectious diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can cause disease. These
Girolamo Fracastoro
…nearly three centuries. 19th century bacteriologists studied Fracastoro’s works, and his "seeds of disease" theory is considered as a predecessor to germ theory. In the same work he also wrote extensively on rabies, speculating that it might be transmitted by rabid dog saliva penetrating the skin…
Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera
A representation by Robert Seymour of the cholera epidemic depicts the spread of the disease in the form of poisonous air.
Louis Pasteur's spontaneous generation experiment illustrates that liquid nutrients are spoiled by particles in the air rather than the air itself. These results of these experiments supported the germ theory of disease.