Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch is a well-known German doctor and microbiologist, Nobel laureate, the founder of modern bacteriology and epidemiology. He was one of the most outstanding scientists of the twentieth century, not only in Germany, but throughout the world. Many achievements in the fight against convectional diseases, which until his research remained incurable, became a sharp impetus in medicine. He was not limited to the study of one field of knowledge, did not stop at a breakthrough in one disease. All his life he discovered the secrets of the most dangerous diseases. Thanks to his achievements, an incredible number of human lives were saved, and this is the real recognition for the scientist.
Key Achievements
German Koch was a foreign correspondent for the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and many other organizations. In the piggy bank of his achievements there are many works on infectious diseases and the fight against them. He traced and analyzed the direct relationship between the disease and microorganisms. One of his main discoveries is finding the causative agent of tuberculosis. He became the first scientist who managed to prove the ability of anthrax to form spores. Research on several diseases brought the scientist world-wide fame. In 1905, German Koch received the Nobel Prize for his achievements. In addition, he was one of the first persons in the field of healthcare in Germany.
Childhood
The future world famous scientist was born in Clausthal-Zellerfeld in 1843. The childhood of a boy - a young naturalist - was relatively easy and carefree. His parents had nothing to do with science, his father worked in the management of mines, and his mother watched over children, who were thirteen people, Koch Robert was the third. He very early began to be interested in the world around him, his already considerable interest was spurred by his grandfather and uncle, who also had an interest in nature. Already in childhood, he collected a collection of insects, mosses and lichens. In 1848 he entered school. Unlike many children, he already knew how to read and write, was very capable. Soon after, he even managed to enter the gymnasium, where over time he became the best student.
University
After graduating from high school, the future scientist entered the prestigious University of Gottingen, where he first studied natural sciences, and then began to study medicine. This is one of the universities in Germany, which was famous for the scientific achievements of students. In 1866, Koch Robert received a medical degree. Koch university professors played a very important role in developing interest in medicine and scientific research. From the very beginning of their studies, they tried to instill a capable student with a love not only for medicine, but also for science.
Carier start
A year after graduation, Koch married, a daughter was born from this marriage. In the early stages of his career, Koch wanted to become a military or naval doctor, but he did not have such an opportunity. Koch moved with his family to Rakwitz, where he began to work in a clinic for the insane. A sad start to a career, but it was only the starting point, in fact, the birth of a great scientist.
A smart and capable worker liked local doctors. Very quickly, being a simple assistant, he gained confidence and became a doctor. So began his career, Robert Koch. The biography shows that he worked like this for only three years, since the Franco-Prussian war began, and he had to go to the front as a field doctor.
War
Koch Robert went to the front voluntarily, even despite his rapidly weakening vision. During the war, he managed to gain serious experience in the treatment of infectious diseases. He cured many people of cholera and typhoid fever, which were very common during the war period. During his stay at the front, Koch also studied large microbes and algae under a microscope, which was a significant advance for him in microphotography and his scientific achievements.
anthrax
After the demobilization, Koch and his family moved to Wolszteyn (now Wolsztyn, Poland), where he worked as a simple orderly. After his wife gave him a microscope for his birthday, he abandoned private practice and completely switched to scientific research. He spent all the time at the microscope, many hours day and night.
He soon noticed that many animals in the area were sick with anthrax. This disease mainly affected cattle. Sick individuals suffered from problems with the lungs, lymph nodes, and carbuncles. For his experiments, Koch bred a huge number of mice so that the anthrax bacillus would reveal its secrets to him. With the help of his wife’s gift, he managed to single out a separate wand, which turns into millions of their own kind.
Learning sticks
For a long time, the scientist did not stop the experiments, he proved that the stick is the only cause of anthrax. He also managed to prove that the distribution of the disease is interconnected with the life cycle of the bacterium itself. It was Koch’s work that proved that anthrax was caused by a bacterium, before that very little was known about the origin of the disease. In the years 1877-1878, German scientists - Robert Koch with the help of his colleagues - published several articles devoted to this problem. In addition, he wrote an article about the methods that he used in his laboratory research.
Immediately after the publication of his works, Koch became a prominent scientist; the Nobel in medicine has already appeared on the horizon. A few years later, he published another work on the cultivation of microbes in solid media, this was a fundamentally new approach and an important breakthrough in the study of the world of bacteria.
Koch and Pasteur
German scientists often competed, but in Germany Koch was second to none, Pasteur was a brilliant French microbiologist, and Koch questioned his work. Koch even published reviews that openly criticized Pasteur's anthrax research. For several years now, scientists could not reach consensus; they opposed both personally and in their work.
Tuberculosis
After successful studies of anthrax, Koch decided to study tuberculosis. This was an urgent matter, because then every seventh resident of Germany was dying from this disease. Scientists, Nobel laureates, doctors only shrugged, believing that tuberculosis is inherited and it is impossible to fight it. The treatment at that time consisted of walks in the fresh air and proper nutrition.
Tuberculosis study
Very quickly, Koch achieved incredible success in the study of tuberculosis. He took tissue from the dead for research, which he dyed and examined for a long time under a microscope to determine what actually causes the disease.
Soon, he noticed sticks, which he tested in a nutrient medium and in guinea pigs. The bacteria multiplied rapidly and killed the host. This was an incredible breakthrough in microbiology. In 1882, Koch published his work on this subject. The Nobel Prize was getting closer.
Cholera study
Koch did not succeed in completing his research; on the instructions of the government, he went to Egypt and India to fight cholera. After another period of lengthy research, the scientist was able to identify the microbe that causes the disease. Significant discoveries made by Koch Robert, became a real breakthrough in medicine. He was appointed as the person in charge of determining the methods for combating many other infectious diseases.
Professor and new studies on tuberculosis
In 1885, Koch was appointed professor at the University of Berlin. In addition, he received the post of director of the Institute of Infectious Diseases. Returning to his homeland from India, he again began to study tuberculosis and achieved significant success. Five years later, in 1890, Koch announced that he had found a cure for the disease. He managed to detect a substance called tuberculin (it is produced by the tuberculosis bacillus), but the drug did not bring much success.
It caused an allergic reaction and was harmful to patients. Although after some time it was noticed that tuberculosis can be diagnosed with tuberculosis, this was an important discovery, which was evaluated by physiology and medicine. The Nobel Prize was awarded to Koch in 1905. In his speech, the scientist said that these were only the first, but very important steps in the fight against tuberculosis.
Awards
The Nobel Prize was not the only achievement of the scientist. He was awarded the Order of Honor, which was issued by the German government. In addition, like many other Nobel laureates, Koch received an honorary doctorate, was a member of many scientific communities. The year before the Nobel Prize, Koch left his post at the Institute of Infectious Diseases.
In 1893, Koch broke up with his wife, and after he married a young actress.
In 1906, he led an expedition to Africa, aimed at combating sleeping sickness.
The famous scientist Baden-Baden died in 1910 from a heart attack.
One of the craters of the volcano was named after him in 1970.
Summary
Koch was a real scientist, he loved his job and did it despite all the difficulties and dangers. Having received a diploma in medicine, he switched to the path of research on infectious diseases, and judging by his tremendous successes, he did it for good reason. If he was engaged only in private practice, he would never have been able to make so many discoveries and save a huge number of lives. This is a great biography of a great man who laid his life on the altar of science. He succeeded in something that no one succeeded, and only hard work and faith in knowledge helped him along this difficult path, the path of learning the secrets of the human body.