Historical Perspective of Radiology, Medicine Evolution, and Medical Terminology

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering pioneers of radiology, history of medical developments, 21st-century healthcare terms, and medical root prefixes.

Evangelista Torricelli

Pioneer of radiology history who invented the first barometer in 1643.

Otto von Guericke

Inventor who created the first air pump in 1646.

Boyle's Law

Gas law discovered by Robert Boyle in 1659 stating that the volume of a gas decreases with increasing pressure and vice versa.

Francis Hauksbee

Scientist who invented a pioneering glass-globe electrostatic generator in 1705–1706 under Isaac Newton's presidency.

Michael Faraday

Scientist who demonstrated electromagnetic induction by producing an induced current when a magnet is passed in and out of a coil.

Arthur Goodspeed

Individual who produced a radiograph in 1880.

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen

Physicist who discovered X-rays on November 8, 1895, while experimenting with a Crookes tube, and received the first Nobel Peace Prize for Physics in 1901.

Cyclotron

A chamber invented by Ernest Lawrence that made it possible to accelerate subatomic particles to high speeds for use as projectiles.

Hepatoscopy

The study of the liver, considered by ancient Mesopotamians to be the seat of life and collecting point of blood.

Abaton

A building in ancient Greek Asclepion healing temples that served as an incubation site where curing took place.

Hippocrates

Known as the Father of Medicine, he revolutionized medicine into an objective science and instructed practitioners to observe all, study the patient rather than the disease, evaluate honestly, and assist nature.

Paracelsus

Known as the Father of Pharmacology, he combined alchemy and disease treatment to create a new science during the Renaissance.

Andreas Vesalius

Known as the Father of Anatomy for his detailed anatomical dissections and drawings.

Claude Bernard

Founder of experimental physiology who discovered the principle of homeostasis.

Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec

Physician who contributed to the clinical and pathologic understanding of chest diseases (emphysema, bronchiectasis, and tuberculosis) and invented the stethoscope.

Paul Ehrlich

Known as the Father of Chemotherapy.

Lithotripsy

A procedure that allows the painless passing of urinary stones by first blasting them with sonic waves.

Health

Defined by WHO as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.

Morbidity

The occurrence of a disease or medical condition.

Mortality Rate

The death rate within a given population.

Epidemic

A widespread infectious disease within a given geographic area.

Pandemic

An infectious disease outbreak of global proportions.

Xantho-

Medical prefix/combining form for yellow.

Erythro-

Medical prefix/combining form for red.

Cyano-

Medical prefix/combining form for blue.

Leuk/o or alb/o

Medical prefixes/combining forms for white.

Melano-

Medical prefix/combining form for black.

Encephal/o or Cereb/o

Medical root words for brain.

Phreno-

Medical combining form for diaphragm.

Cholecysto-

Medical combining form for gallbladder.

Nephro or Reno

Medical combining forms for kidney.

Oophoro-

Medical combining form for ovary.

Salpingo-

Medical combining form for fallopian tube.

Phlebo or veno

Medical combining forms for vein.