Nightingale vs Lister: does the ward heal or the surgeon?

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NIGHTINGALE vs JOSEPH LISTER go head to head — and every jab is rooted in real history.

NIGHTINGALE

I cut the death rate at Scutari by opening windows, scrubbing floors, and feeding the men — cleanliness of the whole environment heals.

JOSEPH LISTER

Admirable, Miss Nightingale, but germs do not respect fresh air; my carbolic spray killed the invisible killers you only diluted.

NIGHTINGALE

You chased microbes I gathered statistics, and my coxcomb charts persuaded governments where your bottle of acid never could.

JOSEPH LISTER

Charts count the dead beautifully, madam — but it was my clean scalpel that stopped them from joining the tally.

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