The feminist and writer Mary Wollstonecraft met her end at the hands of a medical mystery that killed scores of 18th century mothers. Why? Wollstonecraft’s death, following the birth of her daughter, ...

We all expect our doctors to wash their hands before examining us, let alone before performing an operation, to prevent the spread of infection. But surprisingly, the lifesaving power of this simple ...

20150112_me_the_doctor_who_championed_hand_washing_and_briefly_saved_lives_.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1128&d=437&p=3&story=375663920&t=progseg&e=376659969&seg=7&ft=nprml&f ...

In 1847, one out of every six women who delivered a baby in the First Division at the Allgemeine Krankenhaus hospital in Vienna died of childbed fever, a situation mirrored at other medical facilities ...

This book is a verminophobic's worst nightmare, though in the mid-19th century the fear of germs wasn't a recognizable phobia: Medical science hadn't discovered germs yet, let alone understood their ...