Renaissance medicine

Question 1

What aspects of the renaissance helped the development of medicine?

Answer 1

1. New lands: Explorers discovered the Americas. This taught people not to rely on old ideas since many believed the world was much smaller. This also meant explorers bought back new types of medicine used by the natives.
2. New learning: A new scientific methods developed. People used experimentation on observation to collect evidence for proving theories rather than taking things for granted.
3. Artists: Artists experimented with more realistic methods of drawing and painting. This meant that more accurate diagrams of the human body could be produced and doctors could study them carefully.
4. New weapons: The renaissance saw the use of gunpowder. Wounds became deeper and deadlier than ever. This forced surgeons to create new methods of treatment.
5. Printing press: Allowed ideas to be distributed easily and quickly.

Question 2

Who was Andreas Vesalius?

Answer 2

Vesalius was born in 1514 and studied medicine at Padua university where new ideas were encouraged. He then went on to become a professor of surgery at Padua. He encouraged his students to perform dissections and himself carried out many. Through this, he proved Galen wrong in many fields:

1. He proved that the human jaw bone was one bone, not two.
2. He proved that blood did not flow from one side of the heart to the other since the septum was too thick.
3. He proved that men had an equal number of rib bones to women. This made him unpopular with the church.

Question 3

What was the significance of Vesalius in the development of medicine?

Answer 3

1. He proved Galen wrong and made people question his ideas.
2. He encouraged his students to prove their ideas through dissections.
3. He wrote the book ‘The fabric of the human body’ in which he included detailed sketches which helped prove his ideas and meant that other doctors could use the sketches for their own investigations.
4. He showed that he wasn’t afraid of arguing against the church.

Question 4

Who was Ambroise Pare?

Answer 4

Ambroise Pare was a born in 1510 and didn’t go to university. He shadowed his brother in a Parisian hospital and became an army surgeon in 1536. He had to deal with gunshot wounds on a daily basis and since few medical books were written to treat those wounds, surgeons had to improvise.

Question 5

What was Pare’s famous discovery?

Answer 5

All army surgeons were taught to cauterise treated wounds by burning them with boiling oil. Pare did this but one day, he ran out of boiling oil. He improvised by using an ointment of cold oils and egg yolk. The next day, he discovered that his patients were recovering better than the cauterised patients.
From that day, he encouraged surgeons to use soothing ointments rather than cauterisation.

Question 6

Who was William Harvey?

Answer 6

Harvey was born in 1578, in Kent and studied medicine at Cambridge University. He took a very scientific approach to medicine, always experimenting and questioning old ideas.

Question 7

What did Harvey discover?

Answer 7

Harvey discovered that the ancient Greek idea of blood being constantly made and used by the body was wrong. He proved that the blood was being recycled and the heart was pumping it around the body. He also discovered that there were valves in the veins that prevented the back flow of blood.

Question 8

What was the significance of Harvey in the development of medicine?

Answer 8

1. He taught people to question old ideas by proving one wrong.
2. His discovery made blood transfusions and complex internal surgeries possible.
3. He published the book ‘On the movement of the heart and the blood’ in 1628 to spread his ideas.
4. His discoveries were seen as too crazy for his time.