Statue of Lord Lister by George Henry Paulin in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow
Seated alongside Lord Kelvin is a bronze monument to Lord Lister, the Essex-born surgeon and professor whose research into antiseptic systems revolutionised medicine around the world. In his attempts to prevent bacterial infections during surgery, Lister's work showed that carbolic acid (a derivative of benzene) could adequately disinfect tools and instruments. Although ridiculed at first, eventually his ideas caught on and soon mortality rates in hospitals dropped by fifty percent. Lister was primarily based in Edinburgh and London during his long career, but it was during his tenure as Professor of Surgery at the University of Glasgow during the 1860s that he undertook his first experiments with carbolic acid. When the idea of a memorial to Lister was first mooted after his death in 1912, there were suggestions that a museum displaying his old equipment in the Royal Infirmary might be a fitting tribute. The outbreak of war and the subsequent lack of support from the Infirmary managers led to a revised proposal of a simple statue, to be cast in bronze by Scots sculptor George Henry Paulin. The representation of a vibrant Lister, seated atop a grey granite pedestal, was finally unveiled in September
Size: 4304px × 2851px
Location: Glasgow Scotland UK
Photo credit: © MICHAEL CUTHBERT / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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