Joseph Lister published his first paper in the BMJ in 1867 and carried on publishing in the journal for over 40 years, and now all of his articles can be accessed for free online in the BMJ archive.
Lister is the father of antiseptic surgery, and his pioneering techniques transformed the survival rates of patients. Until Lister introduced methods to prevent infection, almost 50% of patients who went under the knife would die as a result.