MEDICINE THROUGH TIME PART 3 - RENAISSANCE MEDICINE

HISTORY REVISION NOTES

                   RENAISSANCE MEDICINE (1453 – 1750)

    Renaissance Civilisation

·         The fall of Constantinople = drove scholars with Greek/Roman knowledge westwards.

·         Artists (Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Titian) revolutionised painting à studied body in detail, improved anatomy.

·         Uni’s began to use the scientific method of experimenting and recorded and comparing results.

·         Invention of the printing press = new ideas to spread quickly across Europe.

·         Many people still rejected new ideas because of the church and its beliefs.

·         Discovery of America meant new ideas/foods were brought back.

·         New weapons = new types of injuries = challenged surgeons/doctors medical knowledge.

·         New weapons e.g. gunpowder and cannons = advancement in the art of war.

·         The first mechanical clock was invented à they showed: time in hours, and the motion of the sun, moon and five planets; the clock weighed about 500 pounds.

·         Governments (e.g. Henry VIII) were strong and rich à economy boomed and trade prospered.

·         People could afford doctors now.

·         Still didn’t know about germs à couldn’t develop new medicine/cures for patients.

Renaissance Medical Knowledge

·         Vesalius and Harvey moved medical knowledge forward dramatically.

-          Andreas Vesalius specialised in human anatomy.

-          He published ‘Fabric of the Human Body’ and had high quality illustrations by Leonardo Da Vinci.

-          He used the printing press which had just been invented.

-          Said blood DID NOT pass through invisible holes in the septum, he discovered spermatic vessels.

-          Said the jaw was made of one bone not two.

-          Said Galen was wrong when he said the muscles were attached to bones.

·         William Harvey specialised in the heart…