The Human History of Germs

Germs have been around for billions of years, a long time in comparison to humans, who originated only about 200,000 years ago. But it’s perhaps even more shocking that we have only known about germs for about the last 150 years. 

Although the actual discovery of germs is recent in terms of human history, many scholars have theorized about their existence for millennia. The first that we know of is Marcus Varro. 

Marcus Varro (116–27 bc) was a prolific Roman writer and scholar who arguably began us on the journey of understanding microscopic organisms. As an experienced farmer, he was known for his works on agriculture, Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres (meaning Three Books on Agriculture) and also his encyclopedia of liberal arts, Nine Books of Disciplines. 

During his lifetime, he warned his fellow Romans to avoid swamps and marshy areas. Varro claimed, in Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres, “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 (Varro, p211).” 

The very word “germ” comes from the Latin “germen”, meaning a sprout, bud, or offshoot. Even though we did not have proof of germs until the late 1850’s, Varro’s works and ideas paved the way for future scientists and scholars after him. Other scientists built on this idea of microbiology, eventually leading to arguably the most important invention in human history: hygiene. In that sense, you could say, Marcus Varro’s work was a “germ”. 

Bibliography: 

Varro, Marcus. Delphi Complete Works of Varro. Hastings, UK, Delphi Classics, June 21, 2017

Varro, Marcus. Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres. Loeb Classical Library, 1934