Daily Quiz for October 28, 2010

Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis of the Vienna Maternity Institution determined that if obstetricians were required to disinfect their hands with a chlorinated lime solution prior to examining patients, deaths of new mothers could be virtually eliminated. This was several years before Louis Pasteur proved the germ theory, so Dr. Semmelweis’ discovery was largely dismissed; new mothers continued to die needlessly.