1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,519 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. After this week's name drop of Max Bond Petkolfer, 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: Today's Saturday Classic is our episode on him. This originally 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: came out March twenty third, twenty twenty, and you can 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: tell that at that time, like a lot of people, 5 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: based on the information we were getting, we didn't think 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: the pandemic was gonna last all that long. So that's 7 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: a funny surprise. Guess if you're thinking, oh you sweet 8 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: summer children, so is everyone. We don't need to be 9 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: reminded of that, but enjoy this episode. Welcome to Stuff 10 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: You Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 11 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm 12 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson. Hey, as we record this, we're in 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: the middle of a pandemic. We sure are. This is 14 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: the first time that we have recorded the podcast with 15 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: everyone involved in their houses. Yeah, we are entirely remote 16 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: this go around. This is our first of those. As 17 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: Tracy just said, so Tracy is usually at home, but 18 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: today I am also at home, and Casey are amazing 19 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: super producer, also at home. So fingers crossed that our 20 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: maiden voyage of doing it this way works out fine, 21 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: We did a test, it worked out fine. But yeah, 22 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: all of this that's going on, all of these changes 23 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: to our day to day lives, however temporary they may be, 24 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: and the virus that has caused all of this got 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: me to thinking about contagion and germ theory and the 26 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: various points in history where people have been trying to 27 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: figure out the science of disease. And as I kind 28 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: of snorfled around on the Internet looking for things related 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: to that, it led me to MAXI on pet and Kofer. 30 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: And one of the things that I found in my 31 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: research for this was a lecture by Yale professor Frank Snowden. 32 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: It's part of their OW and Yale courses, and he 33 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: described Petinkopher as quote the most sophisticated and scientifically robust 34 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: of those we might call wrong. So Pettenkofer's ideas about 35 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: specifically how cholera but also other diseases spread were not 36 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: exactly right. But even though he was kind of on 37 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,359 Speaker 1: the wrong track, his work still had some really beneficial 38 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: impacts on the way that we live. And he also 39 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,959 Speaker 1: had a lot of twists and turns in his early life, 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 1: and I'm hoping that those which are pretty entertaining. Plus, 41 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: talking about these concepts in a way that's a little 42 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: bit removed from what we are all currently living through 43 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,839 Speaker 1: will offer a way to consider just how far we've 44 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: come in figuring out epidemiology. We do need to offer 45 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: a quick heads up. There is a brief mention of 46 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 1: suicide in this episode. I'll add an additional heads up 47 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: just because I was eating my breakfast when I got 48 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: to this part of the outline toward the end of 49 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: the episode. There's a little gross medical bit that you know, 50 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: it'll become clearer when we get closer to it. Yeah, 51 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: no part of you will doubt was that it. Eh. So. 52 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: Max von Pettenkoffer was born at home on December third, 53 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 1: eighteen eighteen, in Liechtenheim, Bavaria, near the Danube River. His 54 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: father wasn't exactly a farmer. He worked the land, but 55 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: really only to the point of subsistence. It was not 56 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: a vocation really on his part. Yeah, they were very poor. 57 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: His family was Catholic and they were obviously of extremely 58 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: modest means. Max was fifth in the birth order. He 59 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: had a total of seven siblings, so that is a 60 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: very busy and crowded house. It made four more people 61 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: than could realistically fit in their living situation. Max, as 62 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: a consequence, did not have a bedroom of his own. 63 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: He actually betted down each night in the hallway, which 64 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: kind of a landing at the top of the stairs 65 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: that had a little crooked to the side of it, 66 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: and that is where he slept. Those early years of 67 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: Max's life, unsurprisingly, were not particularly happy. The family's poverty 68 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: took its whole as the pet and Coverers just never 69 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: had enough to make ends meet. When Max was nine, 70 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: his fortunes changed though. He was sent to Munich to 71 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: live with an uncle, doctor Franz ex Petankofer. Franz was 72 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: a successful apothecary. He was in a way better financial 73 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: position than Max's parents were, so that constant state of 74 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: need was no longer part of Max's life. After he 75 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: moved to Munich, there was just a whole new future 76 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: of possibilities opened up for him, and this is a 77 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: case where he definitely explored a lot of them. First off, 78 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: he started a formal education, so he attended grammar school 79 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 1: and then he went on to high school and he 80 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: graduated in eighteen thirty seven. When he was eighteen. He 81 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: graduated with honors, and he initially seemed to be leaning 82 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: towards literary scholarship. He also wrote poetry, which was good 83 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: enough to be published in a collection. He shifted his 84 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: focus after he enrolled in college at the University of Munich. 85 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: The idea on his uncle's part was that Max could 86 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: study pharmacy and kem and then eventually take over the apothecary, 87 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: and Max started his higher education with that as the plan. 88 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: But there was also a problem, which was it turned 89 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:12,039 Speaker 1: out that he hated those courses. He also dabbled with 90 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: the idea of law, maybe even theology. Those eventually turned 91 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: out not to hold his interest either. Oh, if you've 92 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: ever taken a class you hated, it's excruciating. So to 93 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: have a bunch of them I feel for him so naturally, 94 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: with none of these other ideas about his future really 95 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: being anything that was working for him, he decided to 96 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: become an actor, a perfectly normal path for a scientist. 97 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: He remembered acting in school plays and loving it, so 98 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: that seemed to him like a perfectly good option that 99 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: he hadn't explored yet. As you may imagine, none of 100 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 1: this went over particularly well with his uncle. Their relationship 101 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: as a consequence did on a serious note, become really 102 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,480 Speaker 1: really tense, and eventually there was a physical altercation where 103 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: Franz hit his nephew, and Max at that point disassociated 104 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: himself from his uncle, which also meant that he was 105 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: separating himself from his uncle's financial support. His whole theater 106 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: thing actually seemed like it might play out for a 107 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: little while. In eighteen forty, he was appearing on stage 108 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: as Max Tenkoff in various productions. He was handsome and smart, 109 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 1: and his time studying literature in his younger years really 110 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: served him well. But depending on which biographical account you read, 111 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: it seems like his reviews might have been pretty mixed, 112 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: and it became apparent that this was not going to 113 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: be a way for Max to support himself. Yeah, some 114 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: accounts say that he got pretty consistently not even panned. 115 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: It wasn't even that it was like people are like, 116 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 1: he's fine. Others say he did quite well. So we 117 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: don't really know, but clearly it was not a career 118 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: that was going to work out. But he did make 119 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: an important connection during this time as an actor. He 120 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: met a young woman named Helene Pattenkofer. They have the 121 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: same name because she was he was a cousin, and 122 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: they fell in love. The two of them married, and 123 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: it was actually this marriage that ended up reconnecting Max 124 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: to his uncle Franz, and Helene helped encourage the two 125 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: men to reconcile. In eighteen forty one, Max moved back 126 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: to Munich with his new wife and with his uncle's support, 127 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: started to study medicine. Just a year after that, he 128 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: was publishing articles on chemistry, specifically on the detection and 129 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: isolation of arsenic In March of eighteen forty three, he 130 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: was granted an apothecary degree, and then, after completing his 131 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: medical thesis on South American plants that were believed to 132 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: have curative properties, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine, 133 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: Surgery and Obstetrics. Yeah, I'm not one hundred percent clear 134 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: on why this whole science thing worked for him this round, 135 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: unless he was really just trying to step up and 136 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: find a vocation in which he could support not only 137 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: himself but his new wife. He was very dedicated to Helene, 138 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: But this time around it was like his curiosity kind 139 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: of worked out and he got pretty into his medical career. 140 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: Pettenkofer's medical education had always focused primarily on chemistry, and 141 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: his first position after completing his education was working in 142 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: a lab in Wurzburg researching urine and isolating various substances 143 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: in it. In this work, he showed that hypperic acid 144 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: and sulfocyanic acid were present in urine, and he also 145 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: noted a component that was high in nitrogen, although he 146 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: didn't specifically identify it. Later chemists would identify that as 147 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: creatine and creatinine. And he also developed a way to 148 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: test urine for bile salt, and that test has actually 149 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: continued to be used right up to the modern day. 150 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: He then moved on to the University of Geisen in 151 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: eighteen forty four to continue his work as a chemist, 152 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: but after working under mentor Eustace von Liebig for a 153 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: while there, it was apparent that he wasn't going to 154 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: be offered a professorship, which is something he had hoped for. 155 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: There just were not any open positions. Yeah, it wasn't 156 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,199 Speaker 1: an issue of him not doing good work, because though 157 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: it did not lead to a full time job, his 158 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: work with Libig was quite fruitful. He developed a copper 159 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: amalgam for dentists to use as a filling for teeth. 160 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: He also developed a way, along with Libig, to prepare 161 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: meat extract as a soup base that actually led to 162 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: a company being started, and his interest and his skill 163 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: in chemistry really suited industrial chemistry projects quite well, so 164 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: he shifted away from medicine for a while. He was 165 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: still using his chemistry knowledge on the job that he 166 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: landed in, but it was very different from what he'd 167 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: been doing before. He worked in a mint until eighteen 168 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: forty seven, and in his time there it was his 169 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: job to refine and improve the minting of coins so 170 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: the most valuable metals used in their production could be 171 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,839 Speaker 1: stretched as far as possible. One of the other things 172 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: that he worked on at this time in his life 173 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: was developing a way to save paintings from mildew that 174 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: formed as their varnish broke down. You know, I fell 175 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,320 Speaker 1: in love with him for this. He figured out a 176 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: way to really carefully apply alcohol vapor to the surfaces 177 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: of paintings and in doing so reactivate the varnish so 178 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: that it would kind of reseal the painting and protect 179 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: its surface from molden mildew. Pettenkofer had been made an 180 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 1: associate in the Academy of Sciences in eighteen forty six, 181 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: and in eighteen forty seven he was finally offered a 182 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: professorship at the University of Munich. He taught medical chemistry there. 183 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: This was a newly created position. He was paid a 184 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: small yearly salary plus two measures of wheat and seven 185 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: measures of rye. He had a research space at his disposal, 186 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: and his lectures covered topics including public health, sanitation, diet, 187 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: physical chemistry, and hygiene. Yeah, his interest in all of 188 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,839 Speaker 1: those really really continues throughout his life, and as we'll see, 189 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: it becomes very important. Three years into this new position, 190 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: Petankofer's responsibilities grew because his uncle Franz died in eighteen 191 00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: fifty and as a consequence, Petinkofer inherited Franz's position as 192 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,680 Speaker 1: court apothecary, So he was kind of advising the government 193 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: on matters of chemistry. And this appointment included the residence 194 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: that his uncle had lived in, in which Max had 195 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: lived in as a child, so he got a house 196 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,319 Speaker 1: out of the deal, and he also got an additional 197 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: salary for the apothecary position. So things are going quite well. 198 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,479 Speaker 1: We are about to get into the work that Pettenkoefer 199 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: did while trying to understand the spread of cholera. But 200 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: first we will pause for a quick sponsor break. Starting 201 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: in the eighteen fifties, cholera became the focus of much 202 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: of Pettenkofer's work. In eighteen fifty five, his fortunes continued 203 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: to expand and his standing in the scientific community grew 204 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: as well, and he was able to move his lab 205 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: into the newly built Institute of Physiology, where he had 206 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: more space to work. And this was also the year 207 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 1: that he published a really important work, Investigations and Observations 208 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: on the Method and Spread of Cholera. During this time, 209 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: one of the important concepts that he wrote about was 210 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: the idea of a healthy carrier. While he didn't agree 211 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: with the contagion theories at the time, and we're going 212 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 1: to get into that in a moment, he did think 213 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: that there could be people who showed no sign of 214 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: illness whatsoever and yet helped spread certain elements of disease. 215 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: Max von Pettenkofer started sharing his idea that cholera was 216 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: linked to a microorganism, but he was also adamant that 217 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: whatever that microorganism was wasn't enough to make someone sick 218 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: by itself. He thought a series of conditions had to 219 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: be met to cause an epidemic. There had to be 220 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 1: the microorganism, specific local conditions, seasonal conditions, and individual susceptibility. 221 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: He really didn't believe in the developing ideas that would 222 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: eventually lead Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch to develop germ theory. Yeah, 223 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: germ theory had been kind of developing over time, but 224 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: they really solidified it in the eighteen hundred Pettentkofher's idea 225 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: was represented by the simple mathematical equation of X plus 226 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: y equals z, and in this model, the outcome Z 227 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: was cholera. The variable X was the presence of a microorganism, which, 228 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: again on its own, he believed to be harmless, and 229 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: the y variable represented the local conditions that were contributing 230 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: factors that would enable that microorganism to actually become infectious. 231 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: He thought that general uncleanliness offered nutrients for that X 232 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: microorganism to thrive, and that water and warm temperatures and 233 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: porous soil were also important contributors. The microorganism needed to 234 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: ferment basically kind of the way a plant germinates and 235 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: then building on miasma theory, it would release infectious elements 236 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: into the air, and this idea of petent coophers came 237 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 1: to be known kind of colloquially as the groundwater theory. 238 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 1: It's also sometimes called localization theory. The theory was an 239 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: opposition to the work of British physician John Snow, who 240 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: we have an episode on in the archive. Snow believed 241 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: that whatever was causing cholera was something that was ingested 242 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: and was not miasmatic. In eighteen forty nine, Snow had 243 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 1: written an essay entitled on the Mode and Communication of 244 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,559 Speaker 1: Cholera outlining this idea, and in eighteen fifty four it 245 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 1: seemed like he had proven it when he identified a 246 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: water pump in London's Broad Street that seemed to be 247 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: the source of multiple people's infections. That's a very short 248 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 1: version of his story. Paton Kofer was pretty adamant that 249 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: Snow was oversimplifying things. He acknowledged that John Snow had 250 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: clearly identified some factor in this whole process in the water, 251 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: and he actually wrote that no one in his right 252 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: mind could dismiss that finding. But what exactly was it 253 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: about the water that caused illness? He felt as though 254 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: it just could not possibly be a water borne pathogen. 255 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: By the way, that word was not even in the 256 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: vernacular at that time. It wasn't coined until later. But 257 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: he thought that anything that would have been in the 258 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 1: water by the time it got to a human would 259 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: have been far too diluted to actually be dangerous. That 260 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: big gap in understanding really drove Pettenkofer's work for the 261 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: rest of his life. He wrote paper after paper over 262 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: the next four decades, reiterating and refining his ideas. This 263 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: stoked the fires of a long debate in the medical 264 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: and scientific communities between the contagionists, who thought that snow 265 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: had identified the problem, and the anti contagionists, who thought 266 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: there were far more factors involved than simply passing some 267 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: sort of germ from person to person. And though cholera 268 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: was a concentration of his work, Penankofer continued to develop 269 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: theories and experiments in other fields. This is one of 270 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: those things where you don't realize how much he worked 271 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: on until you really dig in, because most of the 272 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: biographies of the articles you find about him are just 273 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: about his anti contagonism and cholera. But in eighteen sixty one, 274 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: he developed the first breath analysis apparatus. It was a 275 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: chamber in which a subject's exhalation could be analyzed to 276 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,360 Speaker 1: determine how the body was consuming and using fats and carbohydrates, 277 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: forming an important foundation of metabolic research. He was then 278 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: able to use that data that he gathered to develop 279 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: some of the earliest calculations of caloric needs that a 280 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: person may require in various living conditions. In eighteen sixty four, 281 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: he became rector of the University of Munich. His influence 282 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 1: and his work in hygiene led King Ludwig the Second 283 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: of Bavaria to believe that hygiene research should be part 284 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 1: of all of Bavaria's higher learning institutions. The king ensured 285 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: that Bavaria's three universities all had chairs of hygiene. Pet 286 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: and Koefer filled that role at the University of Munich. 287 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: Once these positions were established, hygiene became a required course 288 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: in all their medical curriculums. And we're going to talk 289 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 1: more about some of his work in hygiene as we 290 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: go along. In eighteen sixty five, petentco for, frustrated at 291 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: the lack of journals that were publishing studies of hygiene, 292 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:10,919 Speaker 1: just formed his own zitchrichtfer Biology, which is Journal of Biology, 293 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: was the result. In eighteen seventy two, he was offered 294 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: a very lucrative position. The University of Vienna was building 295 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,159 Speaker 1: a new hygiene institute. They asked him to run it. 296 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: This was an enticing offer, but Pettenkofer really preferred to 297 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: stay in Bavaria. So he used this offer to his 298 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: advantage and told the University of Munich that Vienna really 299 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,440 Speaker 1: wanted him so that he would consider staying only if 300 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:40,119 Speaker 1: he had an institute of hygiene there in Munich. The 301 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: university agreed to build him one, which took the next 302 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 1: seven years, but it did get done and Pettenkofer stayed. 303 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: Ran this hygienic institute at the University of Munich once 304 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:55,680 Speaker 1: it opened in eighteen seventy nine. The institute was highly influential. 305 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 1: It served as a prototype for other education and research 306 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: programs around the world world. It was a direct inspiration 307 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,439 Speaker 1: for the JOHNS. Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health 308 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: in Baltimore that was founded in nineteen seventeen, and one 309 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,160 Speaker 1: of the most important publications during this time when he 310 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,119 Speaker 1: was really really prolifically contributing to this idea of hygiene 311 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: as a science was a lecture titled the Value of 312 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: Health to a City, and this work broke down in 313 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: numbers the cost of having a population that wasn't in 314 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: good health. He noted the average number of six days 315 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: taken by a worker in Munich at the time, which 316 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: was twenty and he calculated that those days cost the 317 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: city three point four million gould in a year. And 318 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,119 Speaker 1: he then outlined how if they developed a sewage system 319 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: and they raised sanitation standards, the city could actually far 320 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: exceed making up for those losses and actually save additional 321 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: money every year. He studied how air quality impacted population health, 322 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: how clothing impacted health, and the benefits of raising plants indoors. 323 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: He examined how ventilation could contribute to or detract from 324 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: overall health. The petent Cofher number, which is a number 325 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: that represents quote an absolute CO two concentration of zero 326 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: point one percent or one thousand parts per million, is 327 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: still used today. His teaching reflected his findings. He evangelized 328 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 1: the importance of clean air, clean water, clean soil, a 329 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: clean home, as well as good clothing and nutrition. Thus, 330 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,400 Speaker 1: this idea of hygiene as a medical issue really became 331 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: an interdisciplinary field. Pet and Coffer really considered the role 332 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 1: of environment in a person's health, and to him it 333 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: was very clear that city planning should include this as 334 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: a consideration. He was not obviously the first person to 335 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: think about this. You can find texts going far far 336 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: back into ancient times where there are some connections being 337 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 1: made about living conditions and health. But his work to 338 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,919 Speaker 1: identify specific causal relationships between the way people live and 339 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 1: their health beyond what could be considered common sense was 340 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: pretty new, and he recognized that this was a field 341 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: that would also have to be agile as civilization shifted 342 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: over time, writing quote, it is a peculiarity of hygiene 343 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: to change its field of research and, within certain limits 344 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: its field of study, according to time and circumstances. Even 345 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: as the Hygienic Institute was under construction, other job offers 346 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: came in. When Pettenkofer was asked to become head of 347 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: the German Empire Health Council in eighteen seventy six, he 348 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 1: turned it down, although he did serve in a smaller 349 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: role as a consultant. We are about to head into 350 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: the later years of Pettenkoper's life including one very strange 351 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: and risky experiment. But first we are going to pause 352 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:56,120 Speaker 1: for a word from the show's sponsors. The eighteen eighties 353 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: were prolific for pet and Koefer, who continued his examination 354 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: of Kohler and his defense of his theory of how 355 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: disease spread. In eighteen eighty two, he collaborated on a 356 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: project titled Handbook for Hygiene with the German physician Hugo 357 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: Wilhelm von Ziemsen, and that handbook, which makes it sound 358 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:15,639 Speaker 1: like a handy thing you could put in your pocket, 359 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: was actually published in five volumes. In eighteen eighty three, 360 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: Pettenkoefer founded a second periodical, Archive for Hygiene. This was 361 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,879 Speaker 1: in many ways an outlet for Pettenkoeffer to continue his 362 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 1: writing about hygiene and disease. In eighteen eighty six and 363 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:34,160 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty seven, he wrote a total of seven hundred 364 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 1: and fifty six pages of content for this journal. The 365 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,200 Speaker 1: same year that he founded it, German microbiologist Robert Cooch 366 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:46,199 Speaker 1: showed that Vibrio coolare was the bacterium responsible for cholera. 367 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,919 Speaker 1: Pettenkoefer continued to believe that this was only part of 368 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 1: the cause, though although Pettenkofer defended his ideas. Really to 369 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,879 Speaker 1: the end, Cooch's work eclipsed his as it became the 370 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: accepted scientific fact. One of the big drivers in his 371 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: writing and research was field work. Peten Koffer was never 372 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 1: just postulating about all of his ideas about how disease 373 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: was passed. He wasn't just sitting in his study. He 374 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,920 Speaker 1: actually made a point to travel to locations where there 375 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 1: had been cholera outbreaks and study the conditions there, because 376 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: he was always looking for additional data to add to 377 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,679 Speaker 1: his ever growing body of works, all in the hopes 378 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: that he could crack this problem and bring an end 379 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,879 Speaker 1: to epidemic outbreaks. And that's an important side note that 380 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: we should make here. The reason the debate between contagionists 381 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: and anti contagionists was so impassioned was because these were 382 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: serious matters of public health. How could scientists and the 383 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: municipalities who took their council protect people. In eighteen forty nine, 384 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 1: a London cholera outbreak that had inspired Snow's work claimed 385 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: the lives of more than fourteen thousand people. And this 386 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: was only one issue that was in play. There were 387 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,880 Speaker 1: also le which is now more often called Hanson's disease, 388 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,119 Speaker 1: typhus plague, and yellow fever disease was something that everyone 389 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: took seriously and that scientists were constantly trying to understand, 390 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: even if they came to drastically different conclusions. So, going 391 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: back to Max von Pettenkofer's field epidemiology, particularly in instances 392 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: where the location of an outbreak didn't fit the model 393 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: that he had developed, he was pretty quick to go 394 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: there and try to figure out why. In most cases, 395 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: these were instances where a city or a village that 396 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,439 Speaker 1: had had an outbreak was not built on porous soil, 397 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: which was something that he felt was vital to how 398 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: this whole system worked. For example, Malta, there had been 399 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: a cholera epidemic on the island in eighteen thirty seven, 400 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,440 Speaker 1: but Malta was rock, which would seem to contradict pet 401 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 1: and Coffer's theory about porous soil. But when he actually 402 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: went and visited the island, he saw that that rock 403 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: was in fact porous. It's limestone, so he felt like 404 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 1: this actually supported his idea. Conversely, he noted that the 405 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,880 Speaker 1: city of Leon, France had not had an outbreak despite 406 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: being a major metropolitan area that had two rivers that 407 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: skirted the city center and a bustling trade business. Pet 408 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: and Kofer concluded that even though there were other factors 409 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: that might contribute to an outbreak in leon, the fact 410 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,920 Speaker 1: that the city's substrate was granite had saved it from epidemics. Yeah, 411 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,680 Speaker 1: he was like, this whole fermentation process cannot happen here 412 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: because granite. And through all of this cholera study, he 413 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: was also still advocating for a general improvement in hygiene 414 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 1: everywhere is a key to good health, and particularly drinking 415 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 1: and just having good clean water. Even though he didn't 416 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: agree with the idea that contaminated water was what spread cholera. 417 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: He thought everybody should just have clean water because that 418 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: was best. He wrote quote for good health, pure water 419 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: is as necessary as pure air, good food, comfortable quarters, 420 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: and so forth. I myself, I'm an enthusiast in the 421 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: matter of drinking water, but not from fear of cholera 422 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,479 Speaker 1: or typhoid fever, but simply from a pure love for 423 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: the good. For me, water is not only a necessary 424 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: article of food, but a real pleasure which I prefer 425 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: and believe to be more healthful than good wine or 426 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,679 Speaker 1: good beer. He was a borderline teetotaler. He was not 427 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:26,120 Speaker 1: really a fan of alcohol at all. Boo. When Pettenkofer 428 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 1: turned seventy in eighteen eighty eight, the cities of Munich 429 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: and Leipzig each gave him cash gifts to be used 430 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,120 Speaker 1: for his pet and Kofer Foundation of Hygienic Investigation. In 431 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety he was elected as president of the Bavarian 432 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,240 Speaker 1: Academy of Sciences, and in eighteen ninety three he was 433 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: given Munich's highest honor, which was the gold Burgess Medal, 434 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,359 Speaker 1: and that was in recognition of his lifetime of work. 435 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: Is he ninety also brought some sorrow. Max's wife, Helene 436 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: died that year, and the couple had also lost three 437 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:58,439 Speaker 1: of their five children over the years, and all of 438 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 1: this loss really took a toll on the scientist in 439 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: his later life. The most dramatic story of Pettenkofer's life 440 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: and work took place in eighteen ninety two. It is 441 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,679 Speaker 1: the part that I referenced grossing me out when I 442 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: read this outline during breakfast. He was so convinced that 443 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,399 Speaker 1: a microorganism alone could not make you sick that he 444 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,359 Speaker 1: put his own life on the line to prove it. 445 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,400 Speaker 1: On October seventh, eighteen ninety two, he got a culture 446 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: of vibrio coollery from a sick patient. He mixed it 447 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: into bullion and he drank it. The experienced quote light 448 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: diarrhea with an enormous proliferation of the basili in the stool, 449 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: but he recovered pretty quickly. The two of his students 450 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: tried the same thing. They both survived, but also became 451 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 1: very ill. These were Petankoffer's thoughts on his rash experiment. Quote. 452 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: Even if I had deceived myself and the experiment endangered 453 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: my life, I would have looked death quietly in the eye, 454 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: for mine would have been no foolish or cowardly suicide. 455 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: I would have died in the service of science ants 456 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,600 Speaker 1: like a soldier on the field of honor. Health and 457 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: life are as I have so often said, very great 458 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: earthly goods, but not the highest for man. Man, if 459 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,439 Speaker 1: he will rise above the animals, must sacrifice both life 460 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 1: and health for the higher ideals. In eighteen ninety four, 461 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: Pettenkofer retired from teaching. Two years later, he also gave 462 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,560 Speaker 1: up his court apothecary position, and then, finally in eighteen 463 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: ninety nine, he ended all his other professional obligations and 464 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: retired primarily to Lake Starnberger in the southwest of Munich. 465 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: We had a summer home there. In early nineteen oh one, 466 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 1: Pettenkofer entered a serious depression triggered by a painful throat infection. 467 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 1: On February tenth, nineteen oh one, he shot and killed himself. 468 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,399 Speaker 1: His body was autopsied, and it revealed that he had 469 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,679 Speaker 1: been living with chronic meningitis, as well as symptoms that 470 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 1: would later be recognized as cerebral calcification. Bettenkofer was buried 471 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: in his beloved Munich and Thalkirk Cemetery. Today there's a 472 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:06,440 Speaker 1: statue of him in Maximilian's Square in Munich. The Hygienic 473 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:10,120 Speaker 1: Institute at the University of Munich, which Pettinkofer had leveraged 474 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: his Vienna offer to get built, was destroyed in World 475 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 1: War II when it was bombed on July thirteenth, nineteen 476 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: forty four. More than twenty years later, in nineteen sixty seven, 477 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: it was finally rebuilt and it became the Max von 478 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 1: Pettenkofer Institute. That institute continues today as a research and 479 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: teaching organization focusing on microbiology, epidemiology, and virology, and it 480 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: also offers hygienic microbiological testing for clinical facilities. His periodical 481 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: Archive for Hygiene still exists today, although it's now published 482 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 1: under the name International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. 483 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: Max von Pettenkofer may have been wrong about the causes 484 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 1: of epidemics, but he was obviously onto an important aspect 485 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,959 Speaker 1: of public health with his staunch defense of hygiene as 486 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: vital for the well being of all humankind. The work 487 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: that he did, as we said, led to sanitary reform 488 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,160 Speaker 1: in a number of places which significantly improve the community's 489 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: quality of life. And in modern epidemiology, there is a 490 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: recognition that exposure and outcome can be influenced and modified 491 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: by other factors, although it's not a cause and effect 492 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: situation like he thought. Yeah, there are definitely all kinds 493 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: of things that can influence how easy it is for 494 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: a pathogen to spread and infect people. But like, it's 495 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: not like you would only contract cholera with these specific 496 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:36,800 Speaker 1: things happening like you thought. So to quote with a 497 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: quote that nicely summarizes Petnkofer's ideology about the importance of 498 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 1: good health, quote everyone who lives upon the earth deserves 499 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: to be well, for a life without health is a misery, 500 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: a martyrdom from which everyone longs for release, and when 501 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 1: it may not be by other means, even by death. 502 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: I don't know that everyone would agree with that perspective, 503 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 1: but it does see like sum up his whole philosophy. Yeah, 504 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: good health is the only way to live, and if 505 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: you can't have it, it's not worth living. It's a 506 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: little bit grim. Yeah, I'm like ablest right, Uh, Yeah, 507 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: it's a He's such an interesting creature and he his 508 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: position in all of this really does get eclipsed by 509 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: Coke and by Louis Pasteur who were doing their stuff. 510 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,520 Speaker 1: And again because he was fundamentally wrong about contagion, but 511 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 1: all of the other stuff he did was amazing. I 512 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: had no idea about his work in metabolic science until 513 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 1: I had gotten pretty deep into research, and I was like, 514 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:44,920 Speaker 1: wait a minute, which is really fascinating because that's stuff 515 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: that is still used all the time today and it 516 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:51,520 Speaker 1: is an important part of some people's lives. Like, if 517 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: you are an athlete, you're depending on science that he 518 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: developed to like maintain your optimal performance, because most athletes 519 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,000 Speaker 1: have a very serious like new anutrition plan that's developed 520 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: after measuring how they're burning carbohydrates and fat, and that 521 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: is all part of this. I love that. Thanks so 522 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 1: much for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like 523 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,959 Speaker 1: to send us a note, our email addresses History Podcast 524 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can subscribe to the 525 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 526 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:28,640 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.