Sir John Simon Research Paper

Sir John Simon
Have you ever wondered how the world would be like if there wasn’t innovative people before our time? What would health care be like without the help of scientist and doctors who have gone before us? Sir John Simon was born in London on October 10th 1816, he was the sixth child out of fourteen. He was the son of Louis Michael Simon and Mathide Nonnet. Simon’s father was a shipbroker which brought the family some wealth. His father had served in the Committee of Stock Exchange from 1837-1868. When Simon was in grade school is, family had enough money to send him to excellent schools. During his adolescents, he attended Pentonville for seven and a half years. In 1833, Simon became an apprentice to Joseph Hennery Green, he was a surgeon at St. Thomas Hospital and a professor of surgery. This began his journey in healthcare and science.
After his apprenticeship, Simon began to shadow Green, he attended his lectures and dissertations at Kings College. When he became 26 years of age he became a member of the Pathological Society in 1846, at which time he became heavily involve in studies pertaining to the

human body. He wrote papers about surgeries that he had performed and new studies that he had been a part of. One of them was written about work he had done on the thymus gland which was entitled “Physiological Essay on the Thymus gland” for this Simon was awarded the Astley Cooper Prize along with a finical prize. After this article, he was elected the fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
After Greens resignation from being surgeon during July 20th 1853, Simon was elected to preform outpatient procedures in Green’s place.

John Simon was interested on a diverse range of studies, he ventured to seek out and prevent the cause of disease and death within the citizens. Simon then decided to become involved in something that he could use his knowledge in pathology for, he focused his interest in sanitary purposes. The reason that lead him to do this was because being a medical doctor and treating illness is a wonderful job, but being involved in the part that causes a healthier country that requires less procedures to be done is fantastic. This nowadays is called preventative health. Although sanitary jobs are not looked as highly respected as health care jobs, they prevent disease and illness which Simon was fascinated with the study

of.
In the 1800’s little was known about health care and even less was known about sanitary procedures and hygiene. In 1848, Simon ran for the position of Medical Officer Health of the City of London. This job position was on that had never been held by anyone because of the sole fact that it was new. The London government was trying to make the country a healthier place to live in and that is why Parliament in passed the Public Health Act. In response, the City of London decided to appoint a Simon as the medical officer. Simon had no experience in public health but among 20 applicants he stood out because he came from a wealth, politically connected family. Along with the strong support of surgeons, on October 19, 1848 Simon was appointed the position. With his very strong writing skills he worked his way to impro eth sanitation of London, this job payed very little this allowed Simon him to continue in private practice.
Throughout the next couple of years, the government took heavy measures to promote public health, they created new standards that drastically improved the quality of life for the people of London. By 1854 the City of London was being adequately drained via sewers, cesspools were a rarity, and every house had a water supply, although water was not continuously available. Even a few slum landlords were forced to repair or tear down their properties -- a new enforcement for the City. Simon remained as Medical Officer of Health with the City from 1848 to 1855.
During the years 1848- 1855 Simon was the dynamic changing force of the sanitation history throughout London, this is something that he will be memorable throughout history for. Simons only job left unfinished was the fulfillment of a clean a sufficient water supply. Simon had found that was water supply to London was contaminated he suspected it to have been caused by the evil of air and soil that was contaminated by organic compound called, cholera. This was an epidemic that occurred during 1848-1849 and again in 1853-154, the cause of the sickness sprung from a River who supplied a half million people of drinking water. In 1858,
When Simon was studying anything perhaps it pertained to pathology or sanitation, he would write long descriptive articles that would help revolutionize science. One of his articles pertaining to the water contamination, cholera, he wrote a long book which helped him understand the root and nature of the epidemic. “I would suggest to you that the presence of epidemic cholera, instead of serving to explain away the local inequalities of mortality, does in fact, only constitute a most important additional testimony to the salubrity or insalubrity of a district, and renders more evident a disparity of circumstances which was previously decided. The frightful phenomenon of a periodic pestilence belongs only to defective sanitary arrangements. (1848-9, p.7) This part of his writing stated that the result of the unsanitary conditions was to blame for the massive sickness from the contaminated drinking water. When Simon was studying, or researching something he would put all his attention into it until he grasped the concept behind it. This is what made Sir John Simon an attribute to modern day health care and sanitary regulations.
Sir John Simon was a man before his time, he was very remarkable for his capacity of his knowledge. “As a surgeon Simon was not brilliant, for he was neither rapid nor graceful, but every operation he performed was carefully planned and prepared for.” This lead Simon on a career path full of discovery, at a young age Simon was heavily influenced by Joseph Henry Green, this lead Simon to early education in life. Green gave him a philosophical basis to his thoughts and actions through life which he greatly used in his studies of pathology, surgery, and sanitation.