About the book: year / “The Gates of Death” - this is what operating theaters were called in the 19th century. This is because half of those who ended up in the hospital or on the operating table died either before or after the procedures, although they became painless after the advent of ether. This was an era when even a simple fracture could lead to amputation, since surgeons and nurses did not even think about washing their hands and instruments, they did not know that in this way they themselves were killing those whom they wanted to put on their feet. The mystery of postoperative death remained unanswered for a long time, and only Joseph Lister was able to solve it using a microscope, natural curiosity, excessive perseverance and faith in a bright future. He declared microbes, not air, to be the source of all infections and proposed a solution to the problem, thereby changing medicine forever. But his path was not easy…