The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Industrial revolution

The Industrial Revolution started in Britain in the 1780's with the invention of the Watt steam engine and accelerated around 1860, when the Bessemer allowed for the inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel.

Steam engines and industrial steel made possible to build powerful engines, guns, carriages, tanks, armored fighting vehicles and naval ships. They also made possible the building of giant turbines and generators thus making the harnessing of water and steam power possible.

The industrial revolution marks a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced. In particular average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth.

Dr. Watson=Sherlock Holmes' friend, assistant and sometimes flatmate, and the first person narrator. He was a doctor trained as a surgeon in the British Army. He joined British forces in India, saw service in Afghanistan, was wounded by a bullet in the shoulder, and was sent back to England|, Pasteur and Lister

Between 1860 and 1864, Louis Pasteur developed the theory that microorganisms were responsible for diseases, conducted experiments that clearly indicated it, and managed to convince most of Europe that it was true. He also thought they caused infections in wounds, and suggested exposure to chemical solutions to prevent infection.

Joseph Lister, professor of surgery at the University of Glasgow, experimented with different chemical solutions and found the first real antiseptic, phenol. In 1867 he published a series of papers, and began to instruct doctors to use it.

Then he realised that infection could be better avoided by preventing bacteria from getting into wounds in the first place. He instructed surgeons under his responsibility to wear clean gloves and wash their hands before and after operations with 5% phenol solutions. Instruments were also washed in the same solution and assistants sprayed the solution in the operating theatre. This led to the rise of sterile surgery.