TABLE OF CONTENTS Scientific Reason 4 Microscope 6 Smallpox Vaccine 8 Anesthetics 10 Aspirin 12 Hygiene and Antiseptics 14 Penicillin 16 X-rays 18 Blood Typing 20 Organ Transplants 22 Prosthetics 24 DNA Research 26 Fact Sheet 28 Glossary 30 For More Information 31 Index 32 About the Author 32
1 HIPPOCRATES INTRODUCES SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT TO MEDICINE Technology is the use of science to solve problems We usually think of machines devices and cool gadgets as technology But sometimes it can mean a new way of thinking Greek physician Hippocrates introduced a new way of thinking about medicine in approximately 430 BCE At that time most doctors knew little about disease They diagnosed diseases based only on what the patient said Many doctors thought that diseases had supernatural causes They treated medical problems with prayers and religious sacrifices Hippocrates viewed disease and the practice of medicine in a more scientific way He figured out that a disease could affect the whole body He thoroughly examined a patient and looked for physical symptoms Hippocrates also took into account The ruins of an ancient hospital where Hippocrates is thought to have worked can be seen on Kos Island 4
the patient’s medical history living l history living conditions and behaviors By paying aviors By paying close attention to patients he tients he learned that some habits and ways abits and ways of life seemed to lead to certain d to certain diseases He also noticed that some oticed that some diseases spread through the air ough the air and water Not all of Hippocrates’s ideas turned s’s ideas turned out to be right But he is thought to e is thought to be one of the first doctors to base octors to base his practice on scientific study tific study This is why he became known as me known as the father of medicine e GALEN Another Greek doctor Galen built on Hippocrates’s ideas Born in 131 CE Galen was one of the first scientists to study the human body through experiments He used controlled experiments to study the function of internal organs such as the kidneys But much of Galen’s research was lost His scientific methods did not start to become common until the 1500s Hippocrates lived from approximately 460 to 375 BCE 60 Number of writings originally credited to Hippocrates Historians now think some of them were written by other doctors Scientific thought was introduced by Hippocrates in approximately 430 BCE in Greece Diagnosed diseases based on observation and logic Took into account living conditions and behaviors that could cause disease 5
