A Public Health Researcher and Her Engineer Husband Found How Diseases Can Spread through Air Decades before the COVID Pandemic

image via New Scientist

May 22, 2025, 4:00 PM

• •Mildred Weeks Wells and her husband, William Firth Wells, pioneered research on airborne transmission of diseases in the 1930s.
• •They developed methods to prove pathogens could spread through the air, but faced resistance from the scientific community.
• •Their findings, including the use of UV light for disinfection, were initially dismissed or attributed to others.
• •Their work, largely ignored for decades, could have saved lives during outbreaks like SARS and COVID-19.
• •The Wellses' story highlights the challenges faced by female scientists and the slow acceptance of groundbreaking ideas.

Mildred Weeks Wells, along with her husband William Firth Wells, conducted pioneering research in the 1930s that demonstrated the airborne transmission of diseases. Despite their crucial findings and innovative experiments, the scientific establishment largely dismissed their work for decades. Their contributions, including the use of ultraviolet light to disinfect air, were overlooked, which could have potentially saved lives during epidemics like SARS and COVID-19. The story of Mildred and William Wells underscores the challenges faced by scientists who challenge established norms and the importance of recognizing groundbreaking research.

Read original article