-
1600 BCE
Edwin Smith Papyrus
The Edwin Smith Papyrus is the world's oldest surviving surgical document. It was written in hieratic script in ancient Egypt. -
Period: 1600 BCE to 400
Ancient Times
-
460 BCE
Hippocrates
Hippocrates was a Greek physician that wrote about exam and treatment of patients. He also wrote the Hippocratic Oath, which is an oath that includes a strict code to not deliberately harm patients and to maintain patient privacy. -
200 BCE
Earliest Known Dental Filling
The earliest known dental filling was found in the Negev desert in Israel. An X-ray of the teeth shows that a 2.5 mm bronze wire was inserted into the tooth canal. -
6 BCE
Sushruta Samhita
This was one of the texts of the Ayurveda (the traditional medical system of India). It documents one of the earliest instances of plastic surgery. It described how to perform a rhinoplasty, along with how to use leeches to prevent blood clots. -
129
Galen
Galen was a chief physician to the gladiators. He created the doctrine of the four bodily humors, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. He also studied anatomy by cutting open animals. -
Period: 400 to 1400
Middle Ages
-
745
First Pharmacy
The first pharmacy was built in Baghdad. Similar to today, pharmacists would create drugs and administer them to patients with prescriptions from a physician. By the 12th century, pharmacies could be found all over Europe, and helped to develop knowledge about drugs and how they were made. -
1021
Ibn al Haytham
Ibn al Haytham was known as the "Father of Optics". He came up with a new explanation for vision and how the eye worked. He explained this in his Book of Optics. -
1025
Avicenna
Avicenna was a Persian polymath who wrote the Canon of Medicine, which included descriptions, causes, and diagnosis techniques for many conditions. Some of these conditions include rabies, stomach ulcers, hepatitis, breast cancer, facial paralysis, diphtheria, leprosy, diabetes, other cancers, and gout. -
1350
John of Arderne
John of Arderne was one of the first English surgeons, and considered one of the fathers of surgery. He was the first to advocate that surgeons should trust their own clinical experience, rather than following the directions of others, even including those advocated by himself. -
1360
Guy de Chauliac
Guy de Chauliac was a French physician who was among the first to describe two different types of plague-- pneumonic and bubonic. He often used himself as a test subject, since he was a victim of plague. Later on he wrote Chirurgia Magna, which described many surgical procedures. -
Period: 1400 to
Renaissance
-
1542
Jean Fernel
Jean Fernel was the first person to describe the spinal canal, and suggested that tastebuds are sensitive to fat. He also invented the terms "physiology" and "pathology". -
1543
Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius wrote De Humani Corporis Fabrica, which is a very detailed writing about his finding while studying anatomy. Due to the dissection of humans being banned by the church, he dissected corpses from the graveyard. His book inspired many physicians to study anatomy as well, and improved the world's understanding of the human body. -
1546
Girolamo Fracastoro
Girolamo Fracastoro made the first scientific statement about the true nature of contagion, infection, disease, germs, and modes of transmission. This was the very beginning of the germ theory, and centuries later his statements were proven to be true. -
First Compound Microscope
The first compund microscope was invented by Zacharias Janssen. It was composed of three sliding tubes and two lenses. This allowed people to view organisms that were not visible to the naked eye, and learn more about microbiology. -
William Harvey
Harvey was the first person to correctly describe blood's circulation throughout the body. He described that arteries and veins form a complete circuit that starts and finishes at the heart. He also stated that the heart's regular contractions drive the flow of blood. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
-
Matthew Dobson
Though Chinese physician Chen Ch'uan described the sypmptoms of diabetes, Dobson identified the sweet taste in diabetic urine as sugar. This is also called hyperglycemia. -
Luigi Galvani
Galvani discovered that a frog muscle could be made to contract by placing an iron wire on the muscle and a copper wire on the nerve. The contraction is connected to galvanism, which is electricity produced by chemical action. He is known as the pioneer of bioelectromagnetics. -
Ephraim McDowell
McDowell performed the first ovarian cystectomy on Jane Crawford, and removed a twenty-two pound ovarian cyst from her abdomen. He did this without anesthesia, and is now known as the father of abdominal surgery. -
Invention of the Camera
Joseph Niepce, a French inventor, used a light-sensitive chemical coating on a pewter plate to create permanent photographs. As time went on, the camera got smaller and more advanced. Cameras are still used today to document medical diseases and surgeries, and view patients in places that are hard to reach (organs, etc.). -
Gregor Mendel
Medel founded genetics through his work on pea plants. He discovered the fundamental laws of inheritance, and that genes come in pairs-- one from each parent. -
Period: to
Modern Era
-
Invention of Anesthesia
William Morton and John Warren wanted to find a stronger agent than nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to put patients to sleep during surgery. They experimented with many gases, but finally found that ether safely put patients into a painless sleep. The first public demonstration of surgery with ether was in 1846. Over time, ether slowly evolved into what we use today for surgery. -
Germ Theory
Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and microbiologist, discovered organisms auch as bacteria were souring wine, beer, and milk. Therefore, he discovered a method to kill the bacteria by boiling and then cooling the drink. This technique was called pasteurization. He also eliminated microbes attacking silkworms, and discovered vaccines for anthrax, cholera, TB, and rabies. -
Willhelm Roentgen
Roentgen was a German professor of physics. He was the first person to discover electromagnetic radiation, also known as X-rays. He found that he was able to use X-rays to see bones inside the body without intrusion. -
Karl Landsteiner
Landsteiner discovered human blood groups. (A, B, AB, and O). Before his discovery, he found that when a blood transfusion was attempted, the blood would clump in some cases but not in others. He tested blood from different people and discovered blood groups. -
Discovery of Penicillin
Alexander Fleming discovered bacteria-destroying mold after he found that a staphylococcus sample he left out had been contaminated with the mold, and then eaten. Later, after experimentation, Fleming was able to extract the Penicillin out of the mold. Today, it is used as an antibiotic. -
Frederick Gowland
During a scientific experiment, Gowland noticed that rats became very sick and died when fed a diet of artificial milk, but when given real milk, the sick rats became healthier and returned to normal. He found that certain foods and liquids contained these properties, and therefore, discovered vitamins. This helped to cure scurvy, a deficiency that seamen develop due to lack of vitamin C. -
HeLa Cells
HeLa cells, named after Henrietta Lacks, are the first line of human cells to survive in a test tube and divide indefinitely. Dr. George Gey grew them after Lacks' biopsy. (She had passed of cervical cancer). He soon realized that the cells never stopped multiplying, and they were titled the 'immortal cell line'. Today, there are billions of HeLa cells all across the world, which are the most used cell line because they are very hardy for research. -
Human Genome Project
Scientists completed a draft sequencing of the human genome (all the genes that make up DNA). This helped researchers identify the single genes that cause diseases, which aided in creating better treatments. -
First Partial and Full Face Transplants
The world's first successful partial face transplant was performed in Amiens, France. In 2005, the world's first full-face transplant was performed in Spain. -
HPV Vaccine
The FDA approved the first human HPV vaccine called Gardasil in 2006. Gardasil protects against cervical cancer and genital warts.
