History of medicine: Robert Koch

Life

• 1843 : Born in Kingdom of Hanover (modern Germany).
• 1910 (age 66) : Died in Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire (modern Germany).

 

Great works

• Koch's postulates. Four criteria to find a causative relationship between a micro-organism and a disease.

 

Significance in history

• Discovered the field of bacteriology.
• Identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the primary causative agent of tuberculosis. 
• Identified the causative agents of anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) and cholera (Vibrio cholerae). 
• Made observations about acquired immunity.

 

See also

• Edward Jenner
• Louis Pasteur