RENAISSANCE MEDICINE

Andreas Vesalius

The "Father of Anatomy"; he dissected humans and proved Galen made over 200 mistakes (e.g., the jaw is one bone, not two).

Fabric of the Human Body (1543)

Vesalius' book; it used the printing press to spread accurate anatomical drawings across Europe.

Ambroise Paré

A French army surgeon who ran out of boiling oil and used a "cool salve" (egg yolk, rose oil, turpentine) instead, proving it healed better.

Ligatures

Paré's method of tying off blood vessels with silk thread instead of cauterising (burning) with hot irons; it reduced shock but increased infection.

William Harvey

Proved that the heart acts as a pump and blood circulates in a one-way system, proving Galen wrong about blood being "burnt up."

An Anatomical Account of the Motion of the Heart and Blood (1628)

Harvey's book; it laid the foundation for modern physiology, though it didn't help cure anything yet.

The Printing Press (1440)

Invented by Gutenberg; it allowed medical ideas to spread faster and more cheaply, ending the Church's monopoly on knowledge.

The Royal Society (1660)

A group of scientists who met to "nullius in verba" (take no one's word for it), encouraging experiments and peer review.

Thomas Sydenham

Known as the "English Hippocrates"; he told doctors to ignore books and observe the patient's symptoms at the bedside.

The Great Plague (1665)

The last major outbreak in London; it killed 100,000 people (20% of the city).

Plague Orders (1665)

Better public health; "Searchers" identified victims, houses were boarded up for 40 days, and fires were lit to clear "miasma."

Micrographia (1665)

Robert Hooke's book showing microscopic images of fleas and lice; it proved there was a world invisible to the naked eye.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Brought "Inoculation" (rubbing smallpox pus into a scratch) from Turkey to England in 1721; it was effective but dangerous.

Edward Jenner

Noticed milkmaids never got smallpox; he developed the first Vaccination in 1796 using cowpox.

1853 Compulsory Vaccination Act

The government forced all children to be vaccinated against smallpox, showing "Laissez-faire" was ending.

The Anti-Vaccination League

Formed in 1866; people feared the government "interfering" with their bodies or being turned into cows.

Quackery

Travelling salesmen who sold fake "cure-alls" (Daffy's Elixir); the lack of regulation meant people often died from the "cure."

John Hunter

An 18th-century surgeon who promoted scientific method; he famously experimented on himself with venereal disease.

Dissolution of the Monasteries (1530s)

Henry VIII closed the Church hospitals, forcing towns to set up secular "Voluntary Hospitals" funded by the rich.

Scientific Revolution

The shift from relying on "Faith" to relying on "Reason" and "Observation" during the 17th century.