Medicine through time - Key people Flashcards
Medieval England
1250-1500
Hippocrates
Developed the 4 humours theory. And the idea of observing and recording illnesses and diseases. (A doctor in ancient Greece.)
Galen
Developed 4 humour theory by creating a treatment by opposites. He wrote over 250 books on medicine. Made mistakes like the Jaw bone made of 1 bone not 2.
Renaissance England
1500-1700
Thomas Sydenham
Known as the “English Hippocrates”. He placed importance on observing a patient and wrote a book called Observationes Medicae. Doctors/physicians are still reliant on Galen’s work.
Vesalius
‘On the Fabric of the Human Body’. He corrected 300 mistakes by Galen on anatomy and caused controversy by challenging Galen’s work.
William Harvey
Discovered the principle of the circulation of blood. He proved that arteries and veins were linked together and was seen as mad because he challenged Galen’s work.
Industrial Britain
1700-1900
Louis Pasteur
(1861) Created the Germ Theory. Identified that germs cause illnesses and diseases but he was unable to identify specific germs.
Robert Koch
(1867) Discovered microbes and how they cause diseases and illnesses. However, it took time for his work to be widely accepted.
Florence Nightingale
(1859) She wrote ‘notes on nursing’ and made nursing a respectable profession for women. She also improved conditions in hospitals and fought hardly in order to change attitudes.
James Simpson
(1847) He discovered Chloroform could be used as an anaesthetic. He also provided safer alternatives to Laughing gas and Ether. However he had difficulty in gauging correct dose to be used.
Robert Lister
(1865) He discovered that Carbolic acid could be used as an antiseptic. Antiseptic surgery- killing germs from wounds. However he was opposed because of poor knowledge in Germ Theory.
Edward Jenner
(1796) He discovered the vaccination for Small Pox. However, vaccination were not compulsory until 1852 by state.
John Snow
(1848) He discovered the cause of Cholera and concluded that it was caused by dirty drinking water. However, the Government was unwilling to pay for improvements.
