A Brief History of the Miracle Bacterium
6 comments
·March 23, 2025dr_dshiv
gsf_emergency_2
Maybe Pythagoras just wanted to rationalize curing his G6PD deficiency (aka favism) with negative homeopathy
melagonster
This is crazy fun :) I'll try to find more information of this clade.
SpaghettiBoi
[dead]
profsummergig
This is such a traditional British way to go about scientific inquiry. Unlikely such experiments would be allowed today. Seems we've lost something.
trhway
There were also that impressive demo of Turbinia. The achievement was celebrated instead of being charged with resisting arrest, disturbing order, etc. On the other side - there was strong opposition among scientists to the limitations on vivisection. Definitely was a different world, more rough and cruel.
https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2164-...
Here’s a fascinating 1969 article about the same bacterium called “From Superstition to Science.” — The whole thing is worth a read, but I especially loved how it traces the blood effect back to Pythagoreanism. Pythagoras the Biologist!
It quotes a 170 AD satire by Lucian, “the sale of creeds” about the god Hermes auctioning off different philosophies.
“Pythagoreanism: Of living animals I eat none. All else I can eat, except beans.
First Buyer: And why no beans? Do you dislike them?
Pythagoreanism: No. But they are sacred things. Their nature is a mystery. Consider them first in their generative aspect; take a green one and peel it, and you will see what I mean. Again boil one and expose it to moonlight for a proper number of nights, and you have—blood. What is more, the Athenians use beans to vote with.”