Holmes, Not Semmelweis

Semmelweis University Budapest

The general pattern of healthy growth is quite similar from one individual to another, but there is considerable individual variability in size attained and rate of growth at different ages, with respect both to the body as a whole and to its specific parts. Both the whole body and its parts, therefore, must be measured, and the study of growth is syno-nimous to a large extent with measurements...

SemmelWeis and his predecessors.

IGNAZ SEMMELWEIS is generally known for identifying puerperal fever as an infectious disease preventable by aseptic methods. While no-one today would contest the importance, the practicality, or the independence of his contribution, its originality has been disputed from the beginning. When Semmelweis first reported his ideas in Vienna, a veterinarian claimed priority for the discovery.' The fi...

Semmelweis University

Holmes

The European Research Council has recently funded HOLMES, a new experiment to directly measure the neutrino mass. HOLMES will perform a calorimetric measurement of the energy released in the decay of 163Ho. The calorimetric measurement eliminates systematic uncertainties arising from the use of external beta sources, as in experiments with beta spectrometers. This measurement was proposed in 19...

Of soap and Semmelweis.

"Good infection control begins with good handwashing." While I preach, I wonder. Are they muttering to themselves, "How true, but how trite"? They hear, but do they listen? The devil elbows my side. "Cut the hackneyed sentence—stay with the technical stuff." Some days, I fight him off through the inspiration of leaders in other fields—for example, Julia Child ("good cooking begins with good ing...