Marcus Antonius Plenciz

views updated

Marcus Antonius Plenciz

Physician who was among the first to advance the "germ theory" of disease causation and transmittal. Plenciz spoke of "seeds in the air" that spread disease from one patient to another, suggesting a different "seed" for each disease. Although he offered no experimental or observational proof of his theories, they became an important part of the germ theory that eventually was proven to be true.

More From encyclopedia.com