Famous Scientists and Their Contributions to Society

Flashcards summarizing key scientists and their contributions to the field of medicine and science.

Hippocrates

Known as 'The Father of Medicine.'

Leonardo Da Vinci

Polymath who made detailed anatomical drawings and conceptualized many medical inventions.

Girolamo Fracastoro

Proposed the germ theory of disease (seeds/spores); 1st theory of contagious disease.

William Harvey

Stated blood circulates throughout the body within a continuous network of vessels.

Anton Van Leeuwenhoek

Invented the microscope.

Rene Laennec

Invented the stethoscope.

Joseph Priestly

Discovered Oxygen and its role in respiration.

Edward Jenner

Demonstrated that vaccination with cowpox provides immunity for smallpox.

Alexander Fleming

Discovered penicillin, the world's first true antibiotic.

Elizabeth Blackwell

The first woman MD in the U.S. Opened the first nursing school in the U.S. in 1860.

Florence Nightingale

Founder of modern nursing; improved sanitary conditions in hospitals.

Clara Barton

Founded the American Red Cross.

Louis Pasteur

A chemist who proved that specific microorganisms are carried by various means. Proved germ theory, leading to identification of microorganisms and development of vaccines.

Joseph Lister

MD who applied the germ theory to his surgical practice by using carbolic acid to kill microorganisms that could fall into open surgical wounds.

Robert Koch

'Father of Microbiology.' Identified causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax.

Sigmund Freud

'Father of Psychiatry.' Founded psychoanalysis and developed theories on the unconscious mind.

Benjamin Franklin

Invented bifocals and charted the Gulf Stream.

Karl Landsteiner

Discovered blood groups.

F. G. Banting

Co-discovered insulin for the treatment of diabetes.

William Roentgen

Discovered X-rays.

Jonas Salk

Developed the first successful polio vaccine (inactivated vaccine).

Albert Sabin

Developed the oral polio vaccine (live-attenuated version).

Jack Kevorkian

Argued patients should be allowed to request assistance to end their lives.