-
460 BCE
Hippocrates
Hippocrates, known as the Father of Medicine, He believed that illnesses had a physical and a rational explanation. He rejected the views of his time that considered illnesses to be caused by evil spirits or other worldly beings. Was the first physician to accurately describe the symptoms of pneumonia, as well as epilepsy in children. He was considered the greatest physician of his time. -
400 BCE
Hippocratic Oath
The Hippocratic Oath is of the oldest binding documents in history, the writer is said to be Hippocrates but it's rather unclear on who exactly wrote it. The Oath is seen as promise to uphold the art and ethics of medicine, to treat the ill to the best of one's ability, to preserve a patient's privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, etc. The Oath is still held sacred by physicians today. -
130
Galen
Galen is known for his discovery that there was blood in arteries and not air, which is what people thought during that time. And is also known for his dissection of the human cranial nerves -
Period: 500 to Dec 31, 1300
Middle Ages
-
910
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi - (Rhazes)
Rhazes is the first person to differentiate between smallpox and measles. -
1285
Glasses
Salvino D'Armate probably invented eyeglasses in around 1285. The first glasses had frames made of metal or bone and had lenses made out of quartz because the ''opticians'' of that time didn't have the capabilities of producing flawless lenses in glass. -
Period: Jan 1, 1301 to
Renaissance
-
1450
Printing Press
Allowed medical discoveries or advancements to be published and to spread to be more known as distribution of medical literature, old and new, increased. -
1500
Anatomy
Physicians were finally allowed to carry out many anatomical studies and made a lot of new discoveries on the human anatomy.
Then physicians were able to get rid of old medical techniques that harmed the body with the knowledge they had discovered. -
William Harvey
William Harvey was the person who made the discovery, and to properly describe how, that the flow of blood must be continuous. He believed that the heart was a pump and that it worked by muscular force. His discoveries advanced the knowledge of the cardio-vascular system. -
Richard Lower
Richard Lower was the first person to conduct an animal-to-animal and an animal-to-human blood transfusion. -
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered "protozoa" - the single-celled organisms and also improved the microscope. He also discovered blood cells. He laid the foundation for microbiology and is known as the Father of Microbiology. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
-
First Vaccine
The first vaccination was invented by Edward Jenner to protect against smallpox by using material from a blister of someone infected with cowpox and inoculating it into another person’s skin. -
Anesthesia
William T. G. Morton discovered anesthesia when he was looking for a way to relieve the pain of surgery and to boost dental profits. He succeeded, and after a successful public demonstration of it used during a surgery it became widely used in surgery. -
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur created the first vaccines for fowl cholera, anthrax, and rabies. He came up with the process of pasteurization where bacteria is destroyed by heating beverages and then allowing them to cool for spoilable substances. He also believed that diseases came from the activities of microorganisms which is germ theory. -
Germ Theory
It is the theory that many diseases are caused by the presence and actions of specific micro-organisms within the body. Before the germ theory physicians at the time thought that diseases could appear out of thin air. -
X-rays
X-rays were discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. X-rays were then used for diagnosis, therapy, broken bones, tumors and the location of bullets. -
Period: to
Modern World
-
Alexander Fleming
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin which was the world’s first antibiotic, and it helped fight against deadly bacteria. -
Organ Transplants
The first successful kidney transplant was carried out by Dr. Joseph Murray and Dr. David Hume. It was the first time that the recipient of an organ transplant survived the operation and various health issues were overcome. -
Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine, the vaccine helped fight against poliomyelitis and to prevent it from developing in people who were vaccinated. -
The First Artificial Heart Transplant
The first artificial heart transplant was done by William DeVries for Barney Clark to replace his damaged heart. The transplant was a success and Clark lived for 112 days. -
Human Genome Project
Revealed that there are probably about 20,500 human genes. The project has given the world a resource of detailed information about the structure, organization and function of the complete set of human genes and can give insights that will give health care providers the ability to treat, prevent and cure diseases. -
Period: to
21st Century
-
Stem Cell Research
Stem cells can basically be programmed to become any type of cell in the body, and so it has large amount of potential for curing diseases and repairing damaged tissues. -
3-D Body Parts
Scientists have successfully created human body parts using 3-D printers. -
Finding a to Stop Epilepsy
A company called NeuroPace revolutionized epilepsy therapy by developing the RNS System; the world’s first closed loop, brain-responsive neuromodulation system. It works by continually monitoring brain waves, and when it detects unusual activity, it emits electrical pulses before a seizure can occur, but it is still in progress. -
Getting Rid of Cataracts
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, have discovered a non-surgical treatment that uses eye drops. These eye drops contain compounds that dissolve the cataracts, eliminating the need for surgery.
