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
2 MICROSCOPE HELPS SCIENTISTS STUDY ANATOMY Zacharias and Hans Janssen were experimenting with two lenses in a tube in 1597 when they made a discovery They positioned one lens as an eyepiece and the other close to the object to be viewed This early attempt at a microscope enlarged the object so that it could be viewed in more detail Soon scientists were using the microscope to study the human body They could now see aspects of anatomy that had been invisible to the human eye In 1661 Italian doctor Marcello Malpighi saw tiny blood vessels called capillaries His observations helped scientists learn how blood moves through the body Malpighi and other doctors also studied the liver brain kidneys and other organs using the microscope Later scientists learned how cells A researcher uses a high-powered microscope 6
Microscopes can be used to view cells the smallest building blocks of the human body work They studied bacteria and viruses tiny organisms that cause many diseases With microscopes scientists gained a better understanding of how the body worked They were able to use that knowledge to learn how to treat it STETHOSCOPES Doctors can also learn from listening to the body The stethoscope helps doctors listen to the heart and lungs It was created by a French doctor in 1816 The first stethoscope was a hollow wooden tube Doctors could use the tube instead of placing their ear directly on a patient’s chest The sound was louder and clearer Later stethoscopes had rubber tubing They transmitted sound directly to the doctor’s ears 2,000 Times a compound microscope which has two lenses can magnify an object The microscope was invented by Zacharias and Hans Janssen Used to study human anatomy in closer detail Used to learn about viruses and bacteria that cause diseases Led to new ways to diagnose diseases 7
