Xth EMOP, August 2008

Manson’s triple error

Faculté de philosophie et sciences humaines, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Chemin du Thil, F-80025 Amiens Cedex-1, France

^* Tel./Fax: +33 (0)3 22 95 09 45 E-mail: francoisdelaporte@free.fr

Abstract

The author discusses the significance, implications and limitations of Manson’s work. How did Patrick Manson resolve some of the major problems raised by the filarial worm life cycle? The Amoy physician showed that circulating embryos could only leave the blood via the percutaneous route, thereby requiring a bloodsucking insect. The discovery of a new autonomous, airborne, active host undoubtedly had a considerable impact on the history of parasitology, but the way in which Manson formulated and solved the problem of the transfer of filarial worms from the body of the mosquito to man resulted in failure. This article shows how the epistemological transformation operated by Manson was indissociably related to a series of errors and how a major breakthrough can be the result of a series of false proposals and, consequently, that the history of truth often involves a history of error.