Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery.
He promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Lister successfully introduced carbolic acid (phenol) to sterilise surgical instruments and to clean wounds.
Applying Louis Pasteur's advances in microbiology, Lister championed the use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic, so that it became the first widely used antiseptic in surgery. 
He knew it was used to ease the stench from fields irrigated with sewage waste. He thought it was safe because fields treated with carbolic acid had no ill-effects on the livestock that grazed on them.
Lister's work led to a reduction in post-operative infections (infections after an operation). This made surgery safer for patients. So he became known as the "father of modern surgery".