Renaissance 1500-1700

• what was the medical renaissance

  rebirth in interest in Galen and Hippocrates' ideas, particularly their methods of observation and experimentation
• the new approach to art

  Greek and Roman art showed deeply detailed bodies- the muscles and sinews- whereas middle ages' art was much less realistic. G & R art gained popularity and was used in new medicinal books
• dilemma for renaissance scholar

  new research led to the discovery of Galen's mistakes. Church was still very powerful so many people were afraid to challenge Galen's work
• how did the black death affect the renaissance

  when the plague returned many survivors were better off after it as employers paid higher wages due to the scarcity of workers. many people spent this extra money on education
• what was encouraged during the renaissance and where

  dissection at universities like Padua and Cambridge
• William Harvey- background


  English physician. worked at Padua uni. "I prefer to learn and teach not from books but from dissections"
• William Harvey- contribution to medical knowledge

  corrected Galen's idea that new blood was made daily in the liver and discovered that the heart pumped blood round the body. concluded that blood flows in one direction through experiment. published his findings in An Anatomical Account of the Motion of the Heart and Blood
• William Harvey- why could he make discoveries

  attitudes- post scientists e.g. Vesalius had challenged Galen successfully, making it easier for Harvey to do so too. gov- Harvey became Charles I's personal physician- backing of king.
• William Harvey- significance


  his work eventually contributed to the ability to perform surgical procedures like blood transfusions correctly. his ideas began to be taught in universities in 1673
• Vesalius- background


  Belgian professor of anatomy at uni of Padua. came from family of physicians
• Vesalius- contributions


  found around 300 mistakes made by Galen e.g. the vena cava did not lead to the liver, the human lower jaw was one bone not two and the kidneys were not at different heights to each other. published findings in book- Fabric of the Human Body- alongside heavily detailed diagrams of the body.
• Vesalius- why could he make discoveries

  attitudes- dissection was allowed (local magistrate allowed him to use bodies of executed criminals) and encouraged at Padua. printing press- books were able to be distributed widely, quickly and on a large scale. no errors could be made with copying his work (unlike monks in middle ages). supported by Holy Roman Emperor
• Vesalius- significance


  encouraged others to think for themselves. his book was being used in Cambridge by 1560- gave students correct foundations of education to conduct their own research
• Sydenham's attitudes towards observation

  revived the importance of taking into account a patient's entire history of symptoms/health. thought it important to take a patient's pulse. "you must go to the bedside, it is there alone you can learn about the disease"
• Sydenham's progress


  realised diseases were separate and that you should identify what exactly the patient was ill with and treat that rather than the many symptoms individually. believed the nature of the patient had little to do with the disease. developed use of laudanum- an anaesthetic.
• Sydenham's limitations


  no new major discoveries, no new cures or means of preventing diseases. he also still believed in miasma and was sceptical about dissection and microscopes. Sydenham advocated bleeding still. four humours treatments still widely used due to lack of alternatives