Short Stories: Rejecting the Fathers of Hand Washing and Rocketry (Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis & Dr. Robert Goddard)
Did you know in the late 1800s, doctors didn’t wash their hands between procedures? When Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis – an obstetrician in Vienna – realized women in his hospital were dying at staggering rates, he implemented staff-wide mandatory hand washing. Maternal death rates dropped by 90%. But doctors weren’t happy. Semmelweis was called “crazy,” told his idea was superstitious, not scientific.