Alexander Fleming: The Discovery of Penicillin

Sir Alexander Fleming changed the world of medicine not only in his days but also in the world today. We have the medicines and antibiotics that we have today because of Alexander Fleming. His discovery was much needed in the world and I hate to think where we would be in the medicine world if he hadn’t discovered penicillin.

Alexander Fleming was born on August 6, 1881 in Darvel, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was born on Lochfield Farm, which was his family’s farm. Alex was the seventh of eight children. He was the third child born to his father’s second wife. With his upbringing in Scotland, Alexander had much more appreciation of the natural world at a young age. (Brown, 2013)

Alexander started his schooling at Loudoun Moor. He moved from Loudoun Moor to a bigger school in Darvel. He finally enrolled in Kilmarnock Academy in 1894 when he was 12 or 13 years old. A year later, Alexander moved to London with his older brother, Thomas. He completed his high school education at Regent Street Polytechnic. (Brown, 2013)

After completing high school in London, Alexander got a job as a shipping clerk. In 1901, Fleming started school at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School. This was the beginning of his medical studies. He got into St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School on a scholarship and a legacy that his uncle left. In 1908, Alexander won the gold medal as a top medical student at the University of London. Fleming was originally going to become a surgeon, but he started a temporary position in the laboratories at St. Mary’s. This temporary position led Fleming to change his field to bacteriology instead of surgery. It was here that Fleming met and learned under bacteriologist and immunologist, Sir Almroth Edward Wright, who was into vaccine ...

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...ing sealed his place in history with the discovery of lysozyme, it was his discover of Penicillin in 1928 that started the revolution of antibiotics and sealed his lasting reputation within the medical world. In 1945, Fleming was recognized for his achievements and he reached the Nobel Prize for Physiology. On March 11, 1955, Fleming died in London, England. (Brown, 2013)

Bibliography

Brown, K. (2013). Sir Alexander Fleming. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/209952/Sir-Alexander-Fleming

Bud, R. (2013). Penicillin: Triumph and Tragedy. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Discovery and Development of Penicillin. (2014, April 4). Retrieved from American Chemical Society International Historic Chemical Landmarks: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html