Renaissance Medicine Flashcards
When did Andreas Vesalius live?
1514-1564
What was the renaissance period?
A period when many new discoveries were made
What is Vesalius remembered best for doing?
Wrote a book on the human anatomy contradicting many of Galen’s theories
How did Andreas Vesalius learn about the anatomy ?
Stealing graves and dissecting the corpses
Name 3 major discoveries that Vesalius made & how Galen was wrong about them
Galen’s beliefs: Vesalius’ findings:
The human breastbone The human breast
had 7 segments bone has 3 segments
The human jaw is The human jaw is
made up of 2 bones made if 1 bone
Blood passes from The septum is too
one side of the heart thick for blood to
to the other through pass through it
the septum
Give 3 reasons why Vesalius’ books were such a sensation
1: The newly invented printing press meant that thousands of copies of the book could be copied and distributed
2: Vesalius’ book contained fantastic, detailed renaissance drawings of the human anatomy
3: Vesalius encouraged medics to challenge Galen’s ideas rather than blindly follow them
Did Vesalius have any opposition?
The church agreed with Galen’s ideas and therefore constantly criticised Vesalius and encouraged people not to listen to him
When did Ambroise Paré live?
1510-1590
What did Ambroise Paré discover & develop
Used herbal remedies rather than boiling oil when treating wounds
used silk ligatures rather than cautery
Started to develop artificial limbs
Describe Paré’s story of how he discovered herbal remedies worked better than boiling oil
Paré was on the battle field and ran out of boiling oil- he improvised with a remedy of egg yolk and cold oil
In the morning, the patients who had undergone natural treatments were healing better than the others
Why did Ambroise Paré use ligatures instead of cautery?
He saw that cautery was very painful for the patient and so used ligatures instead
Ambroise Paré also wrote a book- explain why it was so successful
The printing press had recently been discovered so it could be copied many times
It was translated into many different languages
Where did Ambroise Paré work?
On the battlefield
Spending time in war helped him to develop new treatments and remedies
Why did many people still oppose ligatures in Ambroise Paré’s time?
Germ theory had not yet been discovered so many patients died from dirty & infected ligatures
In the long term ligatures have been very useful & are still used today
When did William Harvey live?
1578-1657
What was the pre-renaissance theory about the circulation of blood?
New blood was constantly being made in the liver that was replacing blood that was being used in the body like fuel
What did Harvey discover about the circulation of blood?
The heart acts as a pump circulating the same blood around the body all the time
He showed that arteries carried blood away from the heart & veins carried blood to the heart
Why did many people object to Harvey’s theories?
He believed there were tiny capillaries that connected veins and arteries
He couldn’t prove this without a microscope however so many people were cynical of him and called his ideas “crazy”
How did Harvey make his discovery?
He put pipes in people’s veins and arteries to show there were tunnels that carried blood
He measured the amount of blood in the body to show there was a constant amount
How did Harvey spread his ideas?
He wrote a book
When did Harvey’s findings become important
After he had died
When the microscope was discovered & his findings were proved right
When common practice did Harvey’s discovery put an end to
Blood letting
He found there was a constant amount of blood in the body so there was no need to let blood
Factors affecting Vesalius’ discoveries and rise to fame?
Genius
Art
New technology (printing press)
Factors affect Ambroise Paré’s discoveries and rise to fame?
War
Chance
Genius
Printing press
Factors affecting William Harvey’s discoveries & rise to fame?
Genius Printing press (new technology)
