Robert Koch

Robert Koch [1843-1910] Robert Koch [ pronounced cock] established bacteriology as a separate science. He developed new techniques of straining, incubating, and growing bacteria, which remain the basis of the bacteriological study of infections. Born in Klausthal-Zellerfeld , on December 11, 1843, Koch enrolled at the University of Gottingen in 1862, where he studied botany, physics, and mathematics and began his lifelong medical career. After a brief tenure at the Hamburg General Hospital and at an institute for retarded children, …

…became director of Berlin’s Institute for Infectious Disorders [ the institute now bears his name], which had been organized for specialized medical research, and remained there until he retired in 1904. Koch won the 1905 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine for his work on tuberculosis. HE also introduced the technique of steam sterilization by dry heat, and identified the germ of Asiatic cholera. On May 27, 1910, Koch died at the German health resort of Baden-Baden. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**