Humanism and the work of Thomas Sydenham

• Diagnosis


  The identification of a disease, illness or condition which is present in a patient. A diagnosis is made after looking for signs and symptoms in a patient.
• Physician


  A person who practices medicine
• Humanism


  A new way of thinking during the Renaissance that recognised the importance of the individual in discovering the truth around them. Humanist ideas represented a challenge to the old ideas and encouraged experimentation to find the truth.
• Four humours


  Four bodily fluids - yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm - used in ancient times to analyse and describe people's state of health
• Thomas Sydenham


  • Respected doctor in London during the Renaissance
  • Encouraged physicians to move away from the classical ideas of Galen and Hippocrates towards the new scientific ideas of observation
  • Believed that to diagnose a patient's illness, a doctor needed to closely observe the symptoms and treat the disease that was causing them
  • Refused to rely solely on medical books
  • Believed that each disease was different and that doctors needed to identify the exact disease before recommending a cure
  • Published his ideas about disease in a book called Observationes Medicae (Medical Observations) in 1676
• Sydenham's work led to a more scientific approach to medicine after the 18th century