The impact of the Medical Renaissance -> c1500 - c1750

Key people
1. Vesalius
  1. Professor of Surgery
    1. At Padua University in Italy
  2. Interested in Anatomy
  3. Published book
    1. 'The Fabric of the Human Body'
      1. On anatomy (body and dissections of corpses)
    2. In 1543
  4. Discovered some of Galen's teachings were wrong
    1. Proved the Septum had no holes
    2. Proved that for Monkeys and Pigs - Galen was right - have 2 lower jaw bones
      1. BUT - proved Galen wrong- humans only have 1 lower jaw bone!
    3. Showed that liver has no lobes
    4. Showed Sternum only had 3 parts instead of 7
2. Harvey
  1. Interested in circulation of blood
  2. Worked out through experiment/observation
    1. Veins only carry blood rather than mix of blood and air
      1. Proved Galen wrong
    2. Blood is NOT constantly manufactured by liver
    3. Blood is NOT used up as it moves around body
      1. Proved Galen wrong
    4. Blood is actually circulated repeatedly around body
  3. Published book
    1. In 1628
    2. 'An anatomical account of the motion of the heart and blood in animals'
      1. Explanation of ideas
        Supported by details of his studies
  4. In Englishman
  5. Took over 40 years for his ideas to be accepted
    1. He was correct that blood had to go through tiny blood vessels to move from arteries to veins
      1. But couldn't prove it as the lenses in microscopes weren't powerful enough to show capillaries until much later
    2. People often reluctant to accept new ideas
    3. Harvey's work was on Physiology (how body's organs function)
      1. Not on cause/treatment of illness
        Didn't seem relevant to work of Physicians + problems of disease
Religion
1. Changes in religion
  1. known as the Reformation
    1. Led to decline in Church's authority
      1. Even though most people remained strongly religious
2. Educated people wanted to check knowledge for themselves
  1. Instead of relying on views of an accepted 'authority'
3. The Royal Society
  1. Group meeting in London , 1660
  2. Published regular accounts of discussions
    1. On wide range of scientific theories
  3. With King Charles II's approval
  4. Included: Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton + Robert Hooke
Science/Technology
1. People wanted to check knowledge for themselves
  1. Led to a scientific approach of Testing + Recording details + Sharing these results with others
2. Printing Press
  1. Meant printed copies of books could be produced quickly and cheaply
    1. Such as those by Vesalius and Harvey
  2. Physicians did not do dissections themselves
    1. Could learn from Vesalius' illustrations
    2. Could copy Harvey's experiments
  3. Produced Herbals - described plants and herbs used in medicine
    1. Printed in ordinary language instead of Latin
3. Mechanisms in Pumps and Clocks
  1. Helped people to accept the idea of the body functioning as a machine
4. Better lenses for a Microscope
  1. Developed by Dutch scientist - Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
    1. He discovered BACTERIA
      1. Described as 'animalcules' in letter to Royal Society 1673

Next up

The impact of the Medical Renaissance -> c1500 - c1750

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by Greta Westwood almost 11 years ago