The Scientific Study of the Germ Theory

The Gospel of Germsis a social history of the implications of the germ theory on Americans. It provides a valuable and absorbing window into how the American society, with the introduction of the germ theory, saw the world with new eyes. Major themes of this book are the measures adopted by Americans to avoid germs and how these radical changes served to fortify societal distinctions. The countless stories of the victims of unseen killers shocked me to the core. In each of them, I found a little of myself. However, a disadvantage of the author’s work is her inability to reflect the subjective thoughts of scientists on the issues covered. Tomes is limited to presenting the facts, but not the essence of the scientific discoveries. Furthermore, another problem with The Gospel of Germsis that it focuses too much on the Progressive Era, downgrading the social movements of the later era as less important. Moreover, Tomes failed to recognize the class differences among women. As history tends to forget that class differences have always affected the lives of women. Furthermore, Tomes does not mention the impact of the germ theory on African American women. The gospel of germs highlights the media as an important actor in the public health system, that can catalyze action at the national and local levels. This was particularly true with respect to diseases. The greatest challenge of the early 20-century germ gospellers was to convince Americans that tuberculosis was a communicable disease. As a result, many anti-tuberculosis societies relied on pamphlets, popular lectures, and newspaper articles to promote public awareness of the disease. Through the media, the germ panics reflected the notion that contact with the diseased and the things they touched was bad, so it helped reinforce feelings of class prejudice and racism.