Renaissance

• Thomas Sydenham


  5 Facts:

  • Nicknamed the English Hippocrates
  • Refused to rely on books; believed doctors should closely observe
  • Published observations medicae in 1676
  • Diseases could be categorised into groups
  • Well respected doctor in 1660s-70s
• Sydenham was important because he formed the idea that diseases could be classified into groups, like plants and animals. This meant that certain diseases caused certain symptoms - moving away from the four humours.
• Royal society


  5 Facts:

  • Met for the first time at Gresham college in 1660
  • Received it's royal charter in 1662 from Charles II
  • Published it's journal philosophical transactions
  • Leeuwenhoek published his ideas of animalcules in it
  • Reports published in English to make it accessible
• The royal society was important because they allowed scientists and thinkers to share their ideas, allowing them to spread, encouraging people to think scientifically about medicine.
• Andreas vesalius 


  5 Facts:

  • Studied in Paris in 1533
  • 1543 On the fabric of the human body published
  • Carried out a large number of dissections
  • Found 300 mistakes in Galen's work
  • Discovered that the main vein from the heart didn't lead to the liver
• Vesalius was important because he broke Galen's authority and encouraged physicians to base their ideas from dissection rather than old books. His illustrations were detailed and helped other physicians understand the body better.
• William Harvey


  5 Facts:

  • Studied at Cambridge, then Padua (under Vesalius)
  • In 1618 he became the royal doctor for James I
  • He discovered that the heart pumped blood around the body
  • He proved that veins flow towards the heart and arteries away from the heart
  • He encouraged others to experiment on actual bodies
• William Harvey is important because he developed Vesalius' ideas and found observable evidence for the workings of the heart/circulation of blood
• Early microscopes


  5 Facts:

  • Much clearer magnification than previously available
  • Robert Hooke - Micrographia (1665) contained detailed images of insects using microscopes
  • Van Leeuwenhoek used microscopes in 1683 to discover animalcules (bacteria)
  • Hooke used his microscopes to confirm Leeuwenhoek's work
• Microscopes were important because people had begun to discredit the old theories but lacked evidence.
• Printing press


  5 Facts:

  • Invented in 1440
  • Johannes Gutenberg, in Germany
  • Moveable type
  • Meant that many copies of the same text could be printed fairly quickly
  • The church was no longer needed to print
• The printing press was important because it bypassed the church so new ideas could be spread that challenged the old ones. Scientists could develop each others work.