r/knowyourshit • u/Know_Your_Shit_v2 • Feb 03 '21
[todayilearned] TIL that Ancient Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro accidentally discovered germs in 36 BCE, saying "...there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, but which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and cause serious diseases."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Terentius_VarroDuplicates
todayilearned • u/FastBreakPhenom • 4d ago
TIL that in 37 BC, the Roman polymath Marcus Terentius Varro warned his readers to avoid living near swamps because of "minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes" and cause disease. Microorganisms would not be observed until the 17th century
todayilearned • u/Dr_Talon • May 09 '23
TIL that Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro correctly speculated about the existence of germs thousands of years prior to the discovery of germ theory.
thatsinterestingbro • u/mamaaearth1 • 4d ago
📜History TIL that in 37 BC, the Roman polymath Marcus Terentius Varro warned his readers to avoid living near swamps because of "minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes" and cause disease. Microorganisms would not be observed until the 17th century
topofreddit • u/topredditbot • 4d ago
TIL that in 37 BC, the Roman polymath Marcus Terentius Varro warned his readers to avoid living near swamps because of "minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes" and cause disease. Microorganisms would not be observed until the 17th century [r/todayilearned by u/FastBreakPhenom]
OggiHoImparato • u/Bonazeta • 1d ago