-
Discovery of the pulmonary capillaries by Marcello Malpigni
De Pulmonibus Observationes Anatomicae (Anatomic Observations of the lungs) is a book first published in Italy in 1661 in which Marcello Malpighi (physician) describes his reseash on microscopic anatomy by focusing on the lungs. He discoved the capillaries which are the smallest blood vessels of the human body thus explaining how blood goes from the arteries to the veins.
His work influenced the loss of confidence in Europe concerning the old knowledge brought by philosophers like Aristotle. -
Emergence of Social Medicine and Public Health
System einer vollständigen medicinischen Polizey (A Complete System of Medical Policy) is a treatise of medicine first published in 1779 in Germany by Johann Peter Frank who was a physician and hygienist. It stressed the importance of hygiene and public health for all regardless of social status. Frank`s work is part of the Age of Enlightenment. -
Beginning of more humane treatments for patients with mental illness
Traité médico-philosophique sur l'aliénation mentale in a book about mental illnesses published in 1801 in France. It was written by Philippe Pinel who was a renowned physician and a precursor of psychiatry.
In his book, Pinel states that people with mental illness can be understood and that we have to treat them without prejudices the same way we treat any other patients.
His work was printed just after the French Revolution which praised concepts like equality and justice. -
Sanitary conditions during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain
The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population of Great Britain is a report written by Edwin Chadwick and published in 1842 in Great Britain.
Chadwick was working at the Poor Law Commission when he decided to write about the conditions of the working class in Great Britain. His report led to sanitary improvements for workers in Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution. -
Commercialization of the first effective drug against syphilis
Salvarsan is the first truly effective synthetic drug commercialized against Syphilis in Europe. It was created in 1909 by Paul Ehrlich who was a Prussian scientist.
Syphilis was an important desease in Europe, it almost became an epidemic during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. Due to the Scientific Revolution of the Enlightenment period and the technological descoveries of the Second Industrial Revolution, it finally became possible to find a cure for Syphilis. -
Discovery of the Rh factor
The Rh factor is a human blood group system that split blood types in two: positive or negative.It was discovered by Karl Landsteiner in 1940 in Austria.
Landsteiner was a Austrian biologist and physician. With World War I, blood transfusions became a major issue. Researches to understand how to efficiently pross blood transfusions became really important especially with the outbreak of World War II.
