De Contagione et Contagiosis Morbis

De Contagione et Contagiosis Morbis

Considered by many to be the masterpiece of Girolamo Fracastoro, an Italian poet, physician, astrologist and geologist, this manuscript was the first text to suggest the idea of germ theory. In it Fracastoro suggests the idea of disease-causing particles known as “fomites” which rapidly multiply and cause disease. His ideas were widely praised at the time of this book’s publishing, but were largely discounted until 300 years later, when his theories were properly proved by Koch and Pasteur. Fracastoro is a classic example of the “renaissance man” a scientist whose many disparate studies covered the gamut of renaissance science. Fracastoro was a colleague of Copernicus, and likely studied astronomy with the famous astronomer (Nutton). What makes this book interesting in the overall idea of the scientific revolution is its startling accuracy even in a time of superstitious medicine. In it Fracastoro successfully predicts the true cause of disease many centuries before this was properly discovered, and like much of renaissance medicine his ideas are noted but not acted upon. This is what I found the most interesting about medical discoveries in this age, their seeming purposeful ignorance. Even though he suggests a different way of looking at medicine, humoral medicine is still practiced throughout this period. And even though his advice is enough, at one time, to convince the Pope himself to move a vital religious group to avoid disease, the Council of Trent, he is still unable to spread his ideas into common culture (Nutton).

Girolamo Fracastoro

https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/record/9200332/ABO__2BZ165423609.html?q=++De+contagione+et+contagiosis+morbis

1546

Jack Williams

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