Key People

• Hippocrates: 'According to Hippocrates, the body is made up of four liquids: phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile'
• Hippocrates


  Stressed the idea of observation, rest, and exercise in leading a healthy lifestyle
• Hippocrates


  Sought a natural, logical, and rational explanation for the cause of disease rather than relying on superstition
• Galen


  Developed the ideas put down by Hippocrates, including the theory of the four humours and the treatments of opposites
• Galen's experiment


  Proved that it was the brain, not the heart, that controls speech by cutting the vocal cord of a pig
• Galen made anatomical mistakes in his dissections of animals like dogs and apes
• Galen suggested


  As the human body was perfectly designed, it must have a creator
• Arab doctors like Avicenna kept the ideas of Galen and Hippocrates alive after the collapse of the Roman Empire
• Avicenna wrote the Canon of Medicine, a standard European medical textbook until the 17th century
• The Islamic religion encouraged medical learning and discoveries
• Paracelsus


  Often called the father of toxicology for his work on the effects of poisons on the human body
• Paracelsus


  Introduced new chemical substances into medicine based on the idea of the body as a chemical system in balance with the environment
• Roger Bacon encouraged doctors to carry out their own research and learn from experiments
• John Hunter developed better approaches to surgery, including tying off blood vessels to prevent amputation in certain situations
• John Hunter


  Encouraged better approaches to surgery, learning about the human body, and experimenting to find better treatments
• Andreas Vesalius's book on the fabric of the human body in 1543 provided a detailed anatomical layout based on human dissection
• The book on the fabric of the human body contains the detailed anatomical layout of the human body
• The book on the fabric of the human body was based on human dissection, proving Galen wrong
• The book on the fabric of the human body was mass-published as a result of the printing press being recently discovered
• Doctors in Europe could follow along in their experiments due to the mass publication of the book on the fabric of the human body
• The book on the fabric of the human body showed that Galen had made mistakes in his experiments using animals
• Galen used the bodies of many prisoners that had recently been hanged in his experiments
• Perry developed a recipe involving egg yolk, turpentine, and rosin applied to wounds to help them heal faster
• Perry's development of ligatures revolutionized the treatment of wounds
• William Harvey proved Galen's ideas about blood consumption were incorrect
• Thomas Sydenham encouraged observation and natural remedies in medical treatment
• Edward Jenner's discovery of vaccinations helped prevent smallpox, a deadly disease
• Vaccinations became popular from 1853 when the government introduced mandatory vaccinations for children
• The World Health Organization announced the eradication of smallpox in 1980 due to government vaccination programs
• Florence Nightingale drastically reduced the mortality rate by cleaning hospital wards during the Crimean War
• Florence Nightingale revolutionized nursing and established Britain's first nurse training school
• Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first female trained doctor
• In well-ventilated hospitals, there was fierce opposition to the role of women as doctors
• Elizabeth Garrett Anderson's journey


  1. Passed an examination in the Society of Apothecaries to get a license

  2. Set up her own practice including an outpatient service for the poor

  3. Established the new hospital for women and children in 1872

  4. Learned French to obtain a medical degree

  5. Gained membership of the British Medical Association in 1873

  6. Helped set up the London School of Medicine for women in 1874
• By 1911, there were only 495 women on the medical register in Britain
• Ignaz Semmelweis dramatically reduced death rates on his wards by insisting that doctors should wash their hands in calcium chloride before treating their patients
• Ignaz Semmelweis's findings


  Reduced death rates on his wards from 35% to 1%
• Louis Pasteur proved that germs in the air caused disease and infection
• Joseph Lister discovered how carbolic acid could be used as an antiseptic
• Robert Koch linked specific germs to specific diseases