Timeline of medicine and medical technology
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This is a timeline of the
history of medicine The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies. More than just histo ...
and
medical technology Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of liv ...
.


Antiquity

* 3300 BC – During the
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with ...
, early doctors used very primitive forms of
herbal medicine Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedie ...
. * 3000 BC –
Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...
The origins of Ayurveda have been traced back to around 4,000 BCE. * c. 2600 BC –
Imhotep Imhotep (; egy, ỉỉ-m-ḥtp "(the one who) comes in peace"; fl. late 27th century BCE) was an Egyptian chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser, possible architect of Djoser's step pyramid, and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopol ...
the priest-physician who was later deified as the Egyptian god of medicine. * 2500 BC – Iry Egyptian inscription speaks of Iry as eye-doctor of the palace, palace physician of the belly, guardian of the royal bowels, and he who prepares the important medicine (name cannot be translated) and knows the inner juices of the body. * 1900–1600 BC
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic ...
clay tablets on medicine survive primarily as copies from
Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BCE to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Inheriting the throne a ...
's library at
Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ba ...
. * 1800 BC –
Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...
sets out fees for surgeons and punishments for malpractice * 1800 BC –
Kahun Gynecological Papyrus The Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus (also Petrie Medical Papyrus, Kahun Medical Papyrus, Lahun Medical Papyrus, or UC32057) is the oldest known medical text in Egypt, although not the oldest in the world as in Philadelphia museum a Sumerian medical c ...
* 1600 BC – Hearst papyrus, coprotherapy and magic * 1551 BC – Ebers Papyrus, coprotherapy and magic * 1500 BC –
Saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma (botany), stigma and stigma (botany)#style, styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly ...
used as a medicine on the Aegean island of Thera in ancient Greece * 1500 BC –
Edwin Smith Papyrus The Edwin Smith Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian medical text, named after Edwin Smith who bought it in 1862, and the oldest known surgical treatise on trauma. From a cited quotation in another text, it may have been known to ancient surgeons as t ...
, an Egyptian medical text and the oldest known surgical treatise (no true surgery) no magic * 1300 BC – Brugsch Papyrus and London Medical Papyrus * 1250 BC –
Asklepios Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...
* 9th century –
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
reports an ontological conception of disease via the
Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek language, Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions ...
myth. Disease has a "life" of its own but is of divine origin. * 8th century –
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
tells that Polydamna supplied the Greek forces besieging
Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
with healing drugs. Homer also tells about battlefield surgery
Idomeneus In Greek mythology, Idomeneus (; el, Ἰδομενεύς) was a Cretan king and commander who led the Cretan armies to the Trojan War, in eighty black ships. He was also one of the suitors of Helen, as well as a comrade of the Telamonian Ajax. ...
tells Nestor after Machaon had fallen: ''A surgeon who can cut out an arrow and heal the wound with his ointments is worth a regiment''. * 700 BC –
Cnidos Knidos or Cnidus (; grc-gre, Κνίδος, , , Knídos) was a Greek city in ancient Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side ...
medical school; also one at
Cos Cos, COS, CoS, coS or Cos. may refer to: Mathematics, science and technology * Carbonyl sulfide * Class of service (CoS or COS), a network header field defined by the IEEE 802.1p task group * Class of service (COS), a parameter in telephone syst ...
* 500 BC –
Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...
orders the restoration of the ''House of Life'' (First record of a (much older) medical school) * 500 BC –
Bian Que Bian Que (; 407 – 310 BC) was an ancient Chinese figure traditionally said to be the earliest known Chinese physician during the Warring States period. His real name is said to be Qin Yueren (), but his medical skills were so amazing that peop ...
becomes the earliest physician known to use
acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...
and pulse diagnosis * 500 BC – The
Sushruta Samhita The ''Sushruta Samhita'' (सुश्रुतसंहिता, IAST: ''Suśrutasaṃhitā'', literally "Suśruta's Compendium") is an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and surgery, and one of the most important such treatises on this subje ...
is published, laying the framework for
Ayurvedic medicine Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repor ...
* – –
Empedocles Empedocles (; grc-gre, Ἐμπεδοκλῆς; , 444–443 BC) was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for originating the cosmogonic theory of the ...
four elements * 500 BC – Pills were used. They were presumably invented so that measured amounts of a medicinal substance could be delivered to a patient. * 510–430 BC –
Alcmaeon of Croton Alcmaeon of Croton (; el, Ἀλκμαίων ὁ Κροτωνιάτης, ''Alkmaiōn'', ''gen''.: Ἀλκμαίωνος; fl. 5th century BC) was an early Greek medical writer and philosopher-scientist. He has been described as one of the most ...
scientific anatomic dissections. He studied the optic nerves and the brain, arguing that the brain was the seat of the senses and intelligence. He distinguished veins from the arteries and had at least vague understanding of the circulation of the blood. Variously described by modern scholars as ''Father of Anatomy''; ''Father of Physiology''; ''Father of Embryology''; ''Father of Psychology''; ''Creator of Psychiatry''; ''Founder of Gynecology''; and as the ''Father of Medicine'' itself. There is little evidence to support the claims but he is, nonetheless, important. * fl. 425 BC –
Diogenes of Apollonia Diogenes of Apollonia ( ; grc, Διογένης ὁ Ἀπολλωνιάτης, Diogénēs ho Apollōniátēs; 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, and was a native of the Milesian colony Apollonia in Thrace. He lived for some t ...
* c. 484 – 425 BC –
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...
tells us Egyptian doctors were specialists: ''Medicine is practiced among them on a plan of separation; each physician treats a single disorder, and no more. Thus the country swarms with medical practitioners, some undertaking to cure diseases of the eye, others of the head, others again of the teeth, others of the intestines, and some those which are not local.'' * 496 – 405 BC –
Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
"It is not a learned physician who sings incantations over pains which should be cured by cutting." * 420 BC – Hippocrates of Cos maintains that diseases have natural causes and puts forth the
Hippocratic Oath The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing gods, to uphold specific e ...
. Origin of rational medicine.


Medicine after Hippocrates

* c. 400 BC – 1 BC – The ''
Huangdi Neijing ''Huangdi Neijing'' (), literally the ''Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor'' or ''Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor'', is an ancient Chinese medical text or group of texts that has been treated as a fundamental doctrinal source for Chines ...
'' (''Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine'') is published, laying the framework for
traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...
* 4th century BC –
Philistion of Locri Philistion of Locri ( el, Φιλιστίων) was a Greek physician, medical and dietary author who lived in the 4th century BC. He was a native of Locri in Italy, but was also referred to as "the Sicilian." He was tutor to the physician Chrysipp ...
Praxagoras distinguishes veins and arteries and determines only arteries pulse * 375–295 BC –
Diocles of Carystus Diocles of Carystus (; el, Διοκλῆς ὁ Καρύστιος; la, Diocles Carystius; also known by the Latin name Diocles Medicus, i.e. "Diocles the physician"; c. 375 BC – c. 295 BC) was a well-regarded Greek physician, born in Carystus, ...
* 354 BC – Critobulus of Cos extracts an arrow from the eye of Phillip II, treating the loss of the eyeball without causing facial disfigurement. * 3rd century BC –
Philinus of Cos Philinus of Cos ( el, Φιλῖνος ὁ Κῷος; 3rd century BC) was a Greek physician. He was the reputed founder of the Empiric school. He was a pupil of Herophilus, a contemporary of Bacchius, and a predecessor of Serapion. He wrote a w ...
founder of the
Empiricist In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empir ...
school. Herophilos and Erasistratus practice androtomy. (Dissecting live and dead human beings) * 280 BC –
Herophilus Herophilos (; grc-gre, Ἡρόφιλος; 335–280 BC), sometimes Latinised Herophilus, was a Greek physician regarded as one of the earliest anatomists. Born in Chalcedon, he spent the majority of his life in Alexandria. He was the first ...
Dissection studies the
nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes ...
and distinguishes between sensory nerves and motor nerves and the brain. also the anatomy of the eye and medical terminology such as (in Latin translation "net like" becomes ''retiform''/retina. * 270 –
Huangfu Mi Huangfu Mi (215–282), courtesy name Shi'an (), was a Chinese physician, essayist, historian, poet, and writer who lived through the late Eastern Han dynasty, Three Kingdoms period and early Western Jin dynasty. He was born in a poor farming fam ...
writes the Zhenjiu Jiayijing (The ABC Compendium of Acupuncture), the first textbook focusing solely on acupuncture * 250 BC –
Erasistratus Erasistratus (; grc-gre, Ἐρασίστρατος; c. 304 – c. 250 BC) was a Greek anatomist and royal physician under Seleucus I Nicator of Syria. Along with fellow physician Herophilus, he founded a school of anatomy in Alexandria, where th ...
studies the
brain A brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as Visual perception, vision. I ...
and distinguishes between the
cerebrum The cerebrum, telencephalon or endbrain is the largest part of the brain containing the cerebral cortex (of the two cerebral hemispheres), as well as several subcortical structures, including the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfactory bulb. ...
and
cerebellum The cerebellum (Latin for "little brain") is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as or even larger. In humans, the cerebe ...
physiology of the brain, heart and eyes, and in the vascular, nervous, respiratory and reproductive systems. * 219 –
Zhang Zhongjing Zhang Zhongjing (; 150–219), formal name Zhang Ji (), was a Chinese pharmacologist, physician, inventor, and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty and one of the most eminent Chinese physicians during the later years of the Han dynasty. He estab ...
publishes
Shang Han Lun The ''Shanghan Lun'' (; variously known in English as the ''Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases','' ''Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders'' or the ''Treatise on Cold Injury'') is a part of ''Shanghan Zabing Lun'' (. It is a Traditional Chinese medi ...
(On Cold Disease Damage). * 200 BC – the ''
Charaka Samhita The ''Charaka Samhita'' (, “Compendium of '' Charaka''”) is a Sanskrit text on Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine). Along with the '' Sushruta Samhita'', it is one of the two foundational texts of this field that have survived from anci ...
'' uses a rational approach to the causes and cure of disease and uses objective methods of
clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...
al examination * 124 – 44 BC –
Asclepiades of Bithynia Asclepiades ( el, Ἀσκληπιάδης; c. 129/124 BC – 40 BC), sometimes called Asclepiades of Bithynia or Asclepiades of Prusa, was a Greek physician born at Prusias-on-Sea in Bithynia in Anatolia and who flourished at Rome, where he pra ...
* 116 – 27 BC –
Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...
Prototypal germ theory of disease. * 1st century AD –
Rufus of Ephesus Rufus of Ephesus ( el, Ῥοῦφος ὁ Ἐφέσιος, fl. late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD) was a Greek physician and author who wrote treatises on dietetics, pathology, anatomy, gynaecology, and patient care. He was an admirer of Hip ...
; Marcellinus a physician of the first century AD; Numisianus * 23 – 79 AD –
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
writes '' Natural History'' * – –
Aulus Cornelius Celsus Aulus Cornelius Celsus ( 25 BC 50 AD) was a Roman encyclopaedist, known for his extant medical work, ''De Medicina'', which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia. The ''De Medicina'' is a primary source on ...
Medical encyclopedia * 50 – 70 AD –
Pedanius Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...
writes ''
De Materia Medica (Latin name for the Greek work , , both meaning "On Medical Material") is a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and the medicines that can be obtained from them. The five-volume work was written between 50 and 70 CE by Pedanius Dioscorides, ...
'' – a precursor of modern
pharmacopoeia A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (from the obsolete typography ''pharmacopœia'', meaning "drug-making"), in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines, and published by ...
s that was in use for almost 1600 years * 2nd century AD
Aretaeus of Cappadocia Aretaeus ( grc-gre, Ἀρεταῖος) is one of the most celebrated of the ancient Greek physicians. Little is known of his life. He presumably was a native or at least a citizen of Cappadocia, a Roman province in Asia Minor (modern day Tur ...
* 98 – 138 AD –
Soranus of Ephesus Soranus of Ephesus ( grc-gre, Σωρανός ὁ Ἑφέσιος; 1st/2nd century AD) was a Greek physician. He was born in Ephesus but practiced in Alexandria and subsequently in Rome, and was one of the chief representatives of the Methodic ...
* 129 – 216 AD –
Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be o ...
– Clinical medicine based on observation and experience. The resulting tightly integrated and comprehensive system, offering a complete medical philosophy dominated medicine throughout the Middle Ages and until the beginning of the modern era.


After Galen 200 AD

* d. 260 – Gargilius Martialis, short Latin handbook on ''Medicines from Vegetables and Fruits'' * 4th century Magnus of Nisibis, Alexandrian doctor and professor book on
urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excreted from the body through the urethra. Cellul ...
* 325 – 400 –
Oribasius Oribasius or Oreibasius ( el, Ὀρειβάσιος; c. 320 – 403) was a Greek medical writer and the personal physician of the Roman emperor Julian. He studied at Alexandria under physician Zeno of Cyprus before joining Julian's retinue. He ...
70 volume encyclopedia * 362 – Julian orders xenones built, imitating Christian charity (proto hospitals) * 369 –
Basil of Caesarea Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Cae ...
founded at
Caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesar ...
in
Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...
an institution (hospital) called Basilias, with several buildings for patients, nurses, physicians, workshops, and schools * 375 –
Ephrem the Syrian Ephrem the Syrian ( syc, ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Mār ʾAp̄rêm Sūryāyā, ; grc-koi, Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σῦρος, Efrém o Sýros; la, Ephraem Syrus; am, ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም ሶርያዊ; ), also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint ...
opened a
hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...
at
Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroe ...
They spread out and specialized nosocomia for the sick, brephotrophia for foundlings, orphanotrophia for orphans, ptochia for the poor, xenodochia for poor or infirm pilgrims, and gerontochia for the old. * 400 – The first hospital in Latin Christendom was founded by Fabiola at Rome * 420 –
Caelius Aurelianus Caelius Aurelianus of Sicca in Numidia was a Greco-Roman physician and writer on medical topics. He is best known for his translation from Greek to Latin of a work by Soranus of Ephesus, ''On Acute and Chronic Diseases''. He probably flourished ...
a doctor from Sicca Veneria (El-Kef, Tunisia) handbook ''On Acute and Chronic Diseases'' in Latin. * 447 – Cassius Felix of Cirta (Constantine, Ksantina, Algeria), medical handbook drew on Greek sources, Methodist and Galenist in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
* 480 – 547
Benedict of Nursia Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...
founder of "monastic medicine" * 484 – 590 – Flavius Magnus Aurelius
Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' ...
* fl. 511 – 534 – Anthimus Greek: Ἄνθιμος * 536 –
Sergius of Reshaina Sergius of Reshaina (died 536) was a physician and priest during the 6th century. He is best known for translating medical works from Greek to Syriac, which were eventually, during the Abbasid Caliphate of the late 8th- & 9th century, translated in ...
(died 536) – A Christian theologian-physician who translated thirty-two of
Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be o ...
's works into
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
and wrote medical treatises of his own * 525 – 605 –
Alexander of Tralles Alexander of Tralles ( grc-x-byzant, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Τραλλιανός; ca. 525– ca. 605) was one of the most eminent physicians in the Byzantine Empire. His birth date may safely be put in the 6th century AD, for he mentions Aëtiu ...
Alexander Trallianus * 500 – 550 –
Aetius of Amida Aetius, Aëtius, or Aetios (Ἀέτιος) may refer to: People * Aetius (philosopher), 1st- or 2nd-century doxographer and Eclectic philosopher * Aëtius of Antioch, 4th-century Anomean theologian * Flavius Aetius, Western Roman commander in ch ...
Encyclopedia 4 books each divided into 4 sections * second half of 6th century building of xenodocheions/bimārestāns by the
Nestorians Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...
under the
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
s, would evolve into the complex secular "Islamic hospital", which combined lay practice and
Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be o ...
ic teaching * 550 – 630
Stephanus of Athens Stephanus of Athens (lived ), also called Stephanus the Philosopher, was a Byzantine Greek physician and writer. A Christian native of Athens, he studied at Alexandria under a certain Asclepius, possibly Asclepius of Tralles. He later practised and ...
* 560 – 636 –
Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...
* c. 620
Aaron of Alexandria Aaron of Alexandria was a physician active in the 7th century. His works were translated into Arabic and Syriac, and were used later by al-Razi. Life and works Aaron wrote 30 books on medicine, the "Pandects". He was the first medical author in ...
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
. He wrote 30 books on medicine, the "Pandects". He was the first author in antiquity who mentioned the diseases of smallpox and measles translated by Māsarjawaih a Syrian Jew and Physician, into Arabic about A. D. 683 * c. 630 –
Paul of Aegina Paul of Aegina or Paulus Aegineta ( el, Παῦλος Αἰγινήτης; Aegina, ) was a 7th-century Byzantine Greek physician best known for writing the medical encyclopedia ''Medical Compendium in Seven Books.'' He is considered the “Father ...
Encyclopedia in 7 books very detailed ''surgery'' used by Albucasis * 790 – 869 – Leo Itrosophist also ''Mathematician'' or ''Philosopher'' wrote "Epitome of Medicine" * c. 800 – 873 –
Al-Kindi Abū Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī (; ar, أبو يوسف يعقوب بن إسحاق الصبّاح الكندي; la, Alkindus; c. 801–873 AD) was an Arab Muslim philosopher, polymath, mathematician, physician ...
(Alkindus) ''
De Gradibus ''De Gradibus'' was an Arabic book published by the Arab physician Al-Kindi (c. 801–873 CE). ''De gradibus'' is the Latinized name of the book. An alternative name for the book was ''Quia Primos''.p. 19"Al-Kindi, A Precursor Of The Scientific Re ...
'' * 820 –
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
hospital founded,
School of Salerno The Schola Medica Salernitana ( it, Scuola Medica Salernitana) was a Medieval medical school, the first and most important of its kind. Situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the south Italian city of Salerno, it was founded in the 9th century and rose ...
would grow around it * d. 857 –
Mesue Yuhanna ibn Masawaih (circa 777–857), ( ar, يوحنا بن ماسويه), also written Ibn Masawaih, Masawaiyh, and in Latin Janus Damascenus, or Mesue, Masuya, Mesue Major, Msuya, and Mesuë the Elder was a Persian or Assyrian East Syriac C ...
the elder (Yūḥannā ibn Māsawayh) Syriac Christian * c. 830 – 870 –
Hunayn ibn Ishaq Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi (also Hunain or Hunein) ( ar, أبو زيد حنين بن إسحاق العبادي; (809–873) was an influential Nestorian Christian translator, scholar, physician, and scientist. During the apex of the Islamic ...
(Johannitius) Syriac-speaking Christian also knew Greek and Arabic. Translator and author of several medical tracts. * c. 838 – 870 – Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari, writes an
encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
of medicine in Arabic. * c. 910d –
Ishaq ibn Hunayn Abū Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn ( ar, إسحاق بن حنين) (c. 830 Baghdad, – c. 910-1) was an influential Arab physician and translator, known for writing the first biography of physicians in the Arabic language. He is also known for ...
* 9th century –
Yahya ibn Sarafyun Yahya ibn Sarafyun (9th century) a Syriac physician, known in Europe as Johannes Serapion, and commonly called Serapion the Elder to distinguish him from Serapion the Younger, with whom he was often confused. Biography Nothing is known of the eve ...
a Syriac physician Johannes Serapion, Serapion the Elder * c. 865 – 925 –
Rhazes Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (full name: ar, أبو بکر محمد بن زکریاء الرازي, translit=Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī, label=none), () rather than ar, زکریاء, label=none (), as for example in , or in . In m ...
pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
,David W. Tschanz, PhD (2003), "Arab Roots of European Medicine", ''Heart Views'' 4 (2). and makes the first clear distinction between
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
and
measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
in his ''al-Hawi''. * d. 955 – Isaac Judaeus Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān al-Isrāʾīlī Egyptian born Jewish physician * 913 – 982 – Shabbethai Donnolo alleged founding father of ''School of Salerno'' wrote in Hebrew * d. 982 – 994 –
'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi 'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi ( fa, علی بن عباس مجوسی; died between 982 and 994), also known as Masoudi, or Latinized as Haly Abbas, was a Persian physician and psychologist from the Islamic Golden Age, most famous for the ''Kitab ...
Haly Abbas * 1000 – Albucasis (936–1018)
surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pa ...
''Kitab
al-Tasrif The ''Kitāb al-Taṣrīf'' ( ar, كتاب التصريف لمن عجز عن التأليف, lit=The Arrangement of Medical Knowledge for One Who is Not Able to Compile a Book for Himself), known in English as The Method of Medicine, is a 30-volume ...
'',
surgical instruments A surgical instrument is a tool or device for performing specific actions or carrying out desired effects during a surgery or operation, such as modifying biological tissue, or to provide access for viewing it. Over time, many different kinds of ...
. * d. 1075 –
Ibn Butlan Abū 'l-Ḥasan al-Muḫtār Yuwānnīs ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbdūn ibn Saʿdūn ibn Buṭlān ( ar, أبو الحسن المختار إيوانيس بن الحسن بن عبدون بن سعدون بن بطلان; ; ca. first quarter of the 11t ...
Christian physician of Baghdad
Tacuinum sanitatis ''Taqwīm aṣ‑Ṣiḥḥa'' ( ''Maintenance of Health'') is originally an 11th-century Arab medical treatise by Ibn Butlan of Baghdad. In the West, the work is known by the Latinisation of names, Latinized name taken by its translations: ''Ta ...
the Arabic original and most of the Latin copies, are in tabular format * 1018 – 1087 –
Michael Psellos Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to ha ...
or Psellus a Byzantine monk, writer, philosopher, politician and historian. several books on medicine * c. 1030 –
Avicenna Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic ...
''
The Canon of Medicine ''The Canon of Medicine'' ( ar, القانون في الطب, italic=yes ''al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb''; fa, قانون در طب, italic=yes, ''Qanun-e dâr Tâb'') is an encyclopedia of medicine in five books compiled by Persian physician-phi ...
'' The ''Canon'' remains a standard textbook in Muslim and European
universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
until the 18th century. * c. 1071 – 1078 –
Simeon Seth Symeon Seth, "Symeōn Magister of Antioch onof Sēth". His first name may also be spelled Simeon or Simeo. (c. 1035 – c. 1110)Antonie Pietrobelli (2016)Qui est Syméon Seth ?Le Projet Syméon Seth. was a Byzantine scientist, translator and offi ...
or Symeon Seth an 11th-century Jewish Byzantine translated Arabic works into Greek * 1084 – First documented hospital in England Canterbury * d. 1087 –
Constantine the African Constantine the African ( la, Constantinus Africanus; died before 1098/1099, Monte Cassino) was a physician who lived in the 11th century. The first part of his life was spent in Ifriqiya and the rest in Italy. He first arrived in Italy in the ...
* 1083 – 1153 –
Anna Komnene Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...
, Latinized as Comnena * 1095 – Congregation of the Antonines, was founded to treat victims of " St. Anthony's fire" a skin disease. * Late 11th or early 12th century –
Trotula ''Trotula'' is a name referring to a group of three texts on women's medicine that were composed in the southern Italian port town of Salerno in the 12th century. The name derives from a historic female figure, Trota of Salerno, a physician and ...
* 1123 –
St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...
founded by the court jester Rahere
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
nuns originally cared for the patients. Mental patients were accepted along with others * 1127 –
Stephen of Antioch Stephen of Pisa (also Stephen of Antioch, Stephen the Philosopher) was an Italian translator from Arabic active in Antioch and Southern Italy in the first part of the twelfth century. He was responsible for the translation of works of Islamic scien ...
translated the work of Haly Abbas * 1100 – 1161 –
Avenzoar Abū Marwān ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Zuhr ( ar, أبو مروان عبد الملك بن زهر), traditionally known by his Latinized name Avenzoar (; 1094–1162), was an Arab physician, surgeon, and poet. He was born at Seville in medieval And ...
Teacher of Averroes * 1170 – Rogerius Salernitanus composed his ''Chirurgia'' also known as ''The Surgery of Roger'' * 1126 – 1198 –
Averroes Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psy ...
* d. c. 1161 –
Matthaeus Platearius Matthaeus Platearius was a physician from the medical school at Salerno, and is thought to have produced a twelfth-century Latin manuscript on medicinal herbs titled "''Circa Instans''" (also known as "''The Book of Simple Medicines''"), later tra ...


1200–1499

* 1203 –
Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...
organized the hospital of Santo Spirito at Rome inspiring others all over Europe * c. 1210 – 1277 –
William of Saliceto William of Salicet (1210–1277) ( Italian: ''Guglielmo da Saliceto'';Plinio Prioreschi ''A History of Medicine: Medieval Medicine'' 1996 - Page 453 "Guglielmo da Saliceto" French: ''Guillaume de Salicet''; Latin: ''Guilielmus de Salicetum'') was ...
, also known as Guilielmus de Saliceto * 1210 – 1295 –
Taddeo Alderotti Taddeo Alderotti (Latin: Thaddaeus Alderottus, French : Thaddée de Florence), born in Florence between 1206 and 1215, died in 1295, was an Italian doctor and professor of medicine at the University of Bologna, who made important contributions t ...
– Scholastic medicine * 1240
Bartholomeus Anglicus Bartholomaeus Anglicus (before 1203–1272), also known as Bartholomew the Englishman and Berthelet, was an early 13th-century Scholastic of Paris, a member of the Franciscan order. He was the author of the compendium ''De proprietatibus rerum' ...
* 1242 – Ibn an-Nafis suggests that the right and left ventricles of the
heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...
are separate and discovers the
pulmonary circulation The pulmonary circulation is a division of the circulatory system in all vertebrates. The circuit begins with deoxygenated blood returned from the body to the right atrium of the heart where it is pumped out from the right ventricle to the lungs ...
and
coronary circulation Coronary circulation is the circulation of blood in the blood vessels that supply the heart muscle (myocardium). Coronary arteries supply oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. Cardiac veins then drain away the blood after it has been deoxygen ...
* c. 1248 –
Ibn al-Baitar Diyāʾ al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Mālaqī, commonly known as Ibn al-Bayṭār () (1197–1248 AD) was an Andalusian Arab physician, botanist, pharmacist and scientist. His main contribution was to systematically record ...
wrote on
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
and
pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
, studied animal anatomy and medicine
veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
. * 1249 –
Roger Bacon Roger Bacon (; la, Rogerus or ', also '' Rogerus''; ), also known by the scholastic accolade ''Doctor Mirabilis'', was a medieval English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through emp ...
writes about
convex lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...
spectacles Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples o ...
for treating
long-sightedness Far-sightedness, also known as long-sightedness, hypermetropia, or hyperopia, is a condition of the eye where distant objects are seen clearly but near objects appear blurred. This blurred effect is due to incoming light being focused behind, i ...
* 1257 – 1316
Pietro d'Abano Pietro d'Abano, also known as Petrus de Apono, Petrus Aponensis or Peter of Abano (Premuda, Loris. "Abano, Pietro D'." in '' Dictionary of Scientific Biography.'' (1970). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Vol. 1: p.4-5.1316), was an Italian philo ...
also known as Petrus De Apono or Aponensis * 1260 –
Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the House of Capet, Direct Capetians. He was Coronation of the French monarch, c ...
established Les Quinze-vingt; originally a retreat for the blind, it became a hospital for eye diseases, and is now one of the most important medical centers in Paris * c. 1260 – 1320
Henri de Mondeville Henri de Mondeville (1320) was a medieval French surgeon who made a significant number of contributions to anatomy and surgery, and was the first Frenchman to author a surgical treatise, ''La Chirurgie'' (1306-1320). Very little is known about th ...
* 1284 – Mansur hospital of Cairo * – Joannes Zacharias Actuarius a Byzantine physician wrote the last great compendium of
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
medicine *1275 –1326 –
Mondino de Luzzi Mondino de Luzzi, or de Liuzzi or de Lucci,The family name is spelled variously: Liucci, Lucci, Luzzi or Luzzo (Latin: de Luciis, de Liuccis, de Leuciis); the ''dei'' may be contracted to ''de'' or ''de''. SeeGiorgi, P.P. (2004) "Mondino de' Li ...
"Mundinus" carried out the first systematic human dissections since Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Ceos 1500 years earlier. * 1288 – The hospital of Santa Maria Nuova founded in Florence, it was strictly medical. * 1300 –
concave lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''element ...
spectacles Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples o ...
to treat
myopia Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may includ ...
developed in Italy. * 1310 –
Pietro d'Abano Pietro d'Abano, also known as Petrus de Apono, Petrus Aponensis or Peter of Abano (Premuda, Loris. "Abano, Pietro D'." in '' Dictionary of Scientific Biography.'' (1970). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Vol. 1: p.4-5.1316), was an Italian philo ...
's Conciliator () * d. 1348 – Gentile da Foligno * 1292–1350 – Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziya * 1306–1390 –
John of Arderne John of Arderne (1307–1392) was an English surgeon, and one of the first of his time to devise some workable cures. He is considered one of the fathers of surgery, described by some as England's first surgeon and by others as the country' ...
* d. 1368 –
Guy de Chauliac Guy de Chauliac (), also called Guido or Guigo de Cauliaco ( 1300 – 25 July 1368), was a French physician and surgeon who wrote a lengthy and influential treatise on surgery in Latin, titled '' Chirurgia Magna''. It was translated into many othe ...
* f. 1460 – Heinrich von Pfolspeundt * 1443 – 1502 –
Antonio Benivieni Antonio di Paolo Benivieni (1443–1502) was a Florentine physician who pioneered the use of the autopsy and many medical historians have considered him a founder of pathology. Biography Early life and education Benivieni was born in Florence, ...
Pathological anatomy * 1493 – 1541 –
Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He ...
On the relationship between medicine and surgery surgery book


1500–1799

* Early 16th century: **
Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He ...
, an
alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim ...
by trade, rejects
occultism The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
and pioneers the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. Burns the books of Avicenna, Galen and Hippocrates. **
Hieronymus Fabricius Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente, also known as Girolamo Fabrizio or Hieronymus Fabricius (20 May 1533 – 21 May 1619), was a pioneering anatomist and surgeon known in medical science as "The Father of Embryology." Life and accomplishments ...
His "Surgery" is mostly that of
Celsus Celsus (; grc-x-hellen, Κέλσος, ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work, ''The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: grc-x-hellen, Λόγ ...
,
Paul of Aegina Paul of Aegina or Paulus Aegineta ( el, Παῦλος Αἰγινήτης; Aegina, ) was a 7th-century Byzantine Greek physician best known for writing the medical encyclopedia ''Medical Compendium in Seven Books.'' He is considered the “Father ...
, and Abulcasis citing them by name. **
Caspar Stromayr Caspar is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People * Caspar (magus), a name traditionally given to one of the Three Magi in the Bible who brought the baby Jesus gifts * Caspar Austa (born 1982), Estonian cyclist *Caspar Badrutt (1848–1904 ...
* 1500? – 1561 Pierre Franco *
Ambroise Paré Ambroise Paré (c. 1510 – 20 December 1590) was a French barber surgeon who served in that role for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. He is considered one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology and a pi ...
(1510–1590) pioneered the treatment of gunshot wounds. ** Bartholomeo Maggi at Bologna, Felix Wurtz of Zurich, Léonard Botal in Paris, and the Englishman
Thomas Gale (surgeon) Thomas Gale (1507–1586) was an English surgeon. Although earlier books on surgery had been published in English, these were translations of texts from the European continent: Gale's was the first book on surgery to be ''written'' in English. ...
, (the diversity of their geographical origins attests to the widespread interest of surgeons in the problem), all published works urging similar treatment to Paré's. But it was Paré's writings which were the most influential. * 1518 – College of Physicians founded now known as
Royal College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...
is a British professional body of doctors of general medicine and its subspecialties. It received the royal charter in 1518 * 1510 – 1590 –
Ambroise Paré Ambroise Paré (c. 1510 – 20 December 1590) was a French barber surgeon who served in that role for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. He is considered one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology and a pi ...
surgeon * 1540 – 1604 – William Clowes – Surgical chest for military surgeons * 1543 –
Andreas Vesalius Andreas Vesalius (Latinized from Andries van Wezel) () was a 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, ''De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (''On the fabric of the human body'' ' ...
publishes De Fabrica Corporis Humani which corrects Greek medical errors and revolutionizes European medicine * 1546 – Girolamo Fracastoro proposes that epidemic diseases are caused by transferable seedlike entities * 1550 – 1612 – Peter Lowe * 1553 –
Miguel Serveto Michael Servetus (; es, Miguel Serveto as real name; french: Michel Servet; also known as ''Miguel Servet'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish th ...
describes the circulation of blood through the
lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...
s. He is accused of heresy and burned at the stake * 1556 –
Amato Lusitano João Rodrigues de Castelo Branco, better known as Amato Lusitano and Amatus Lusitanus (1511–1568), was a notable Portugal, Portuguese Jewish physician of the 16th century. He is sometimes is said to have discovered the valves in the vena ...
describes venous valves in the Ázigos vein * 1559 –
Realdo Colombo Matteo Realdo Colombo (c. 1515 – 1559) was an Italian professor of anatomy and a surgeon at the University of Padua between 1544 and 1559. Early life and education Matteo Realdo Colombo or Realdus Columbus, was born in Cremona, Lombardy, the ...
describes the circulation of blood through the lungs in detail * 1563 – Garcia de Orta founds tropical medicine with his treatise on Indian diseases and treatments * 1570 – 1643 –
John Woodall John Woodall (1570–1643) was an English military surgeon, Paracelsian chemist, businessman, linguist and diplomat. He made a fortune through the stocking of medical chests for the East India Company and later the armed forces of England. He i ...
Ship surgeons used lemon juice to treat
scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease, disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, ch ...
wrote "The Surgions Mate" * 1590 –
Microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisi ...
was invented, which played a huge part in medical advancement * 1596 –
Li Shizhen Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518  – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi, was a Chinese acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is the author of a 27-year work, found in the ''Compendium o ...
publishes ''Běncǎo Gāngmù'' or ''
Compendium of Materia Medica The ''Bencao gangmu'', known in English as the ''Compendium of Materia Medica'' or ''Great Pharmacopoeia'', is an encyclopedic gathering of medicine, natural history, and Chinese herbology compiled and edited by Li Shizhen and published in the ...
'' * 1603 –
Girolamo Fabrici Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente, also known as Girolamo Fabrizio or Hieronymus Fabricius (20 May 1533 – 21 May 1619), was a pioneering anatomist and surgeon known in medical science as "The Father of Embryology." Life and accomplishment ...
studies leg
vein Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated ...
s and notices that they have
valves A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
which allow blood to flow only toward the heart * 1621 – 1676 –
Richard Wiseman Richard J. Wiseman (born 17 September 1966) is a Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. He has written several psychology books. He has given keynote addresses to The Royal ...
* 1628 –
William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and propert ...
explains the
circulatory system The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...
in ''
Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus ''Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus'' (Latin, 'An Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Living Beings'), commonly called ''De Motu Cordis'', is the best-known work of the physician William Harv ...
'' * 1683 – 1758 –
Lorenz Heister Lorenz Heister (Latin: ''Laurentius Heister'') (19 September 1683 – 18 April 1758) was a German anatomist, surgeon and botanist born in Frankfurt am Main. Biography From 1702 to 1706 Heister studied at the Universities of Giessen and Wetz ...
* 1688 – 1752 –
William Cheselden William Cheselden (; 19 October 168810 April 1752) was an English surgeon and teacher of anatomy and surgery, who was influential in establishing surgery as a scientific medical profession. Via the medical missionary Benjamin Hobson, his work ...
* 1701 – Giacomo Pylarini gives the first
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
inoculation Inoculation is the act of implanting a pathogen or other microorganism. It may refer to methods of artificially inducing immunity against various infectious diseases, or it may be used to describe the spreading of disease, as in "self-inoculati ...
s in Europe. They were widely practised in the East before then. * 1714 – 1789 –
Percivall Pott Percivall Pott (6 January 1714, in London – 22 December 1788) was an English surgeon, one of the founders of orthopaedics, and the first scientist to demonstrate that a cancer may be caused by an environmental carcinogen. Career He was the ...
* 1720 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu * 1728 – 1793 – John Hunter * 1736 – Claudius Aymand performs the first successful
appendectomy An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acute appe ...
* 1744 – 1795 –
Pierre-Joseph Desault Pierre-Joseph Desault (6 February 1738 – 1 June 1795) was a French anatomist and surgeon. Biography Pierre-Joseph Desault was born in Vouhenans, Franche-Comté. He was destined for a career in the Church, but his own inclination was towards the ...
First surgical periodical * 1747 –
James Lind James Lind (4 October 1716 – 13 July 1794) was a Scottish doctor. He was a pioneer of naval hygiene in the Royal Navy. By conducting one of the first ever clinical trials, he developed the theory that citrus fruits cured scurvy. Lind ...
discovers that
citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
s prevent
scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease, disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, ch ...
* 1749 – 1806 –
Benjamin Bell Benjamin Bell of Hunthill FRSE FRCSEd (6 September 1749 – 5 April 1806) is considered to be the first Scottish scientific surgeon. He is commonly described as the father of the Edinburgh school of surgery,Richardson BWS, Martin MSM. Discipl ...
– Leading surgeon of his time and father of a surgical dynasty, author of "A System of Surgery" * 1752 – 1832 –
Antonio Scarpa Antonio Scarpa (9 May 1752 – 31 October 1832) was an Italian anatomist and professor. Biography Scarpa was born to an impoverished family in the frazione of Lorenzaga, Motta di Livenza, Veneto. An uncle, who was a member of the priesthood, gav ...
* 1763 – 1820 – John Bell * 1766 – 1842 –
Dominique Jean Larrey Baron Dominique Jean Larrey (; 8 July 1766 – 25 July 1842) was a French surgeon and military doctor, who distinguished himself in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. An important innovator in battlefield medicine and triage, ...
Surgeon to
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
* 1768 – 1843 –
Astley Cooper Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathol ...
surgeon lectures principles and practice * 1774 – 1842 –
Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in the spin ...
, surgeon * 1774 –
Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted ...
discovers
nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and ha ...
,
nitric oxide Nitric oxide (nitrogen oxide or nitrogen monoxide) is a colorless gas with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of nitrogen. Nitric oxide is a free radical: it has an unpaired electron, which is sometimes denoted by a dot in its ...
,
ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous ...
,
hydrogen chloride The compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula and as such is a hydrogen halide. At room temperature, it is a colourless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric water vapor. Hydrogen chlorid ...
and
oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...
* 1777 – 1835 – Baron Guillaume Dupuytren – Head surgeon at
Hôtel-Dieu de Paris In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu ( en, hostel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris b ...
, ''The age Dupuytren'' * 1785 –
William Withering William Withering FRS (17 March 1741 – 6 October 1799) was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and first systematic investigator of the bioactivity of digitalis. Withering was born in Wellington, Shropshire, the son of a surg ...
publishes ''"An Account of the Foxglove"'' the first systematic description of
digitalis ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shap ...
in treating
dropsy Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...
* 1790 –
Samuel Hahnemann Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (; 10 April 1755 – 2 July 1843) was a German physician, best known for creating the pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine called homeopathy. Early life Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann was ...
rages against the prevalent practice of
bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily f ...
as a universal cure and founds
homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a d ...
* 1796 –
Edward Jenner Edward Jenner, (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was a British physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines, and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms ''vaccine'' and ''vaccination'' are derived f ...
develops a smallpox
vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulat ...
method * 1799 –
Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for ...
discovers the
anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...
properties of nitrous oxide


1800–1899

* 1800 –
Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for ...
announces the
anaesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...
properties of
nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and ha ...
. * 1803 – 1841 –
Morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
was first isolated by
Friedrich Sertürner Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner (19 June 1783 – 20 February 1841) was a German pharmacist and a pioneer of alkaloid chemistry. He is best known for his discovery of morphine in 1804. Biography Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner was born to J ...
, this is generally believed to be the first isolation of an active ingredient from a plant. * 1813–1883 –
James Marion Sims James Marion Sims (January 25, 1813November 13, 1883) was an American physician in the field of surgery. His most famous work was the development of a surgical technique for the repair of vesicovaginal fistula, a severe complication of obstru ...
vesico-vaganial surgery Father of surgical gynecology.Biography: * 1816 –
René Laennec René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec (; 17 February 1781 – 13 August 1826) was a French physician and musician. His skill at carving his own wooden flutes led him to invent the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker ...
invents the
stethoscope The stethoscope is a medical device for auscultation, or listening to internal sounds of an animal or human body. It typically has a small disc-shaped resonator that is placed against the skin, and one or two tubes connected to two earpieces. ...
. * 1827 – 1912 –
Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...
antiseptic surgery Father of modern surgery * 1818 – James Blundell performs the first successful human transfusion. * 1842 –
Crawford Long Crawford Williamson Long (November 1, 1815 – June 16, 1878) was an American surgeon and pharmacist best known for his first use of inhaled sulfuric ether as an anesthetic, discovered by performing surgeries on disabled African American slaves ...
performs the first surgical operation using anesthesia with
ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again ...
. * 1845 –
John Hughes Bennett John Hughes Bennett PRCPE FRSE (31 August 1812 – 25 September 1875) was an English physician, physiologist and pathologist. His main contribution to medicine has been the first description of leukemia as a blood disorder (1845). The first pers ...
first describes leukemia as a blood disorder. * 1846 – First painless surgery with general
anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...
. * 1847 –
Ignaz Semmelweis Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (; hu, Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp ; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian physician and scientist, who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. Described as the "saviour of mothers", he discovered that t ...
discovers how to prevent
puerperal fever Postpartum infections, also known as childbed fever and puerperal fever, are any bacterial infections of the female reproductive tract following childbirth or miscarriage. Signs and symptoms usually include a fever greater than , chills, lower ...
. * 1849 –
Elizabeth Blackwell Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 182131 May 1910) was a British physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the United Ki ...
is the first woman to gain a medical degree in the United States. * 1850 – Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (later Woman's Medical College), the first medical college in the world to grant degrees to women, is founded in Philadelphia. * 1858 – Rudolf Carl Virchow 13 October 1821 – 5 September 1902 his theories of cellular pathology spelled the end of
Humoral medicine Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850s ...
. * 1861 –
Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...
discovers the Germ Theory * 1867 – Lister publishes '' Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery'', based partly on Pasteur's work. * 1870 –
Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...
and
Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( , ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera (though the bacteri ...
establish the
germ theory of disease The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can lead to disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without magnification, invade ...
. * 1878 –
Ellis Reynolds Shipp Ellis Reynolds Shipp MD FAAP (January 20, 1847 – January 31, 1939) was one of the first female doctors in Utah and west of the Mississippi. She founded the School of Nursing and Obstetrics in 1879, and was on the board of the Deseret Hosp ...
graduates from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania and begins practice in Utah. * 1879 – First vaccine for cholera. * 1881 – Louis Pasteur develops an anthrax disease, anthrax vaccine. * 1882 – Louis Pasteur develops a rabies vaccine. * 1890 – Emil von Behring discovers antitoxins and uses them to develop tetanus and diphtheria vaccines. * 1895 – Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers medical use of X-rays in medical imaging


1900–1999

* 1901 – Karl Landsteiner discovers the existence of different human blood types * 1901 – Alois Alzheimer identifies the first case of what becomes known as Alzheimer's disease * 1903 – Willem Einthoven invents electrocardiography (ECG/EKG) * 1906 – Frederick Hopkins suggests the existence of vitamins and suggests that a lack of vitamins causes
scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease, disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, ch ...
and rickets * 1907 – Paul Ehrlich develops a chemotherapeutic cure for African trypanosomiasis, sleeping sickness * 1907 – Henry Stanley Plummer develops the first structured patient record and clinical number (Mayo clinic) * 1908 – Victor Horsley and R. Clarke invents the Horsley–Clarke apparatus, stereotactic method * 1909 – First intrauterine device described by Richard Richter. * 1910 – Hans Christian Jacobaeus performs the first laparoscopic surgery, laparoscopy on humans * 1917 – Julius Wagner-Jauregg discovers the malarial fever Electroconvulsive therapy, shock therapy for general paresis of the insane * 1921 – Edward Mellanby discovers vitamin D and shows that its absence causes rickets * 1921 – Frederick Banting and Charles Best discover insulin – important for the treatment of diabetes * 1921 – Fidel Pagés pioneers epidural anesthesia * 1923 – First vaccine for diphtheria * 1926 – First vaccine for pertussis * 1927 – First vaccine for tuberculosis * 1927 – First vaccine for tetanus * 1929 – Hans Berger discovers human electroencephalography * 1930 – First successful sex reassignment surgery performed on Lili Elbe in Dresden, Germany. * 1932 – Gerhard Domagk develops a chemotherapeutic cure for streptococcus * 1933 – Manfred Sakel discovers insulin shock therapy * 1935 – Ladislas J. Meduna discovers metrazol Electroconvulsive therapy, shock therapy * 1935 – First vaccine for yellow fever * 1936 – Egas Moniz discovers prefrontal lobotomy for treating mental diseases; Enrique Finochietto develops the now ubiquitous self-retaining thoracic retractor * 1938 – Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini discover electroconvulsive therapy * 1938 – Howard Florey and Ernst Chain investigate Penicillin and attempted to mass-produce it and tested it on the policeman Albert Alexander (police officer) who recovered but died due to a lack of Penicillin * 1943 – Willem J. Kolff builds the first dialysis machine * 1944 – Disposable catheter – David S. Sheridan * 1946 – Chemotherapy – Alfred G. Gilman and Louis S. Goodman * 1947 – Defibrillator – Claude Beck * 1948 – Acetaminophen – Julius Axelrod, Bernard Brodie (biochemist), Bernard Brodie * 1949 – First implant of intraocular lens, by Harold Ridley (ophthalmologist), Sir Harold Ridley * 1949 – Mechanical assistor for anesthesia – John Emerson * 1952 – Jonas Salk develops the first polio vaccine (available in 1955) * 1952 – Cloning – Robert Briggs and Thomas King * 1953 – First live birth from Semen cryopreservation, frozen sperm * 1953 – Heart-lung machine – John Heysham Gibbon * 1953 – Medical ultrasonography – Inge Edler * 1954 – Joseph Murray performs the first human kidney transplant (on identical twins) * 1954 – Ventouse – Tage Malmstrom * 1955 – Tetracycline – Lloyd Conover * 1956 – Metered-dose inhaler – 3M * 1957 – William Grey Walter invents the brain Electroencephalography, EEG topography (toposcope) * 1958 – Pacemaker – Rune Elmqvist * 1959 – In vitro fertilization – Min Chueh Chang * 1960 – Invention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) * 1960 – First combined oral contraceptive approved by the FDA * 1962 – Hip replacement – John Charnley * 1962 – Beta blocker James W. Black * 1962 – Albert Sabin develops first oral polio vaccine * 1963 – Artificial heart – Paul Winchell * 1963 – Thomas Starzl performs the first human liver transplant * 1963 – James Hardy (surgeon), James Hardy performs the first human lung transplant * 1963 – Valium (diazepam) – Leo H. Sternbach * 1964 – First vaccine for
measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
* 1965 – Frank Pantridge installs the first portable defibrillator * 1965 – First commercial ultrasound * 1966 – C. Walton Lillehei performs the first pancreas, human pancreas transplant * 1966 – Rubella Vaccine – Harry Martin Meyer and Paul D. Parkman * 1967 – First vaccine for mumps * 1967 – René Favaloro develops Coronary Bypass surgery * 1967 – Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant * 1968 – Powered prothesis – Samuel Alderson * 1968 – Controlled drug delivery – Alejandro Zaffaron * 1969 – Balloon catheter – Thomas Fogarty * 1969 – Cochlear implant – William House * 1970 – Cyclosporine, the first effective immunosuppressive drug is introduced in organ transplant practice * 1971 – MMR Vaccine - developed by Maurice Hilleman * 1971 – Genetically modified organisms – Ananda Chakrabart * 1971 – Magnetic resonance imaging – Raymond Vahan Damadian * 1971 – Computed tomography (CT or CAT Scan) – Godfrey Hounsfield * 1971 – Transdermal patches – Alejandro Zaffaroni * 1971 – Sir Godfrey Hounsfield invents the first commercial CT scanner * 1972 – Insulin pump Dean Kamen * 1973 – Laser eye surgery (LASIK) – Mani Lal Bhaumik * 1974 – Liposuction – Giorgio Fischer * 1976 – First commercial PET scanner * 1978 – First live birth from In vitro fertilisation, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) * 1978 – Last fatal case of
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
* 1979 – Antiviral drugs – George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion * 1980 – Raymond Damadian builds first commercial MRI scanner * 1980 – Lithotripter – Dornier Research Group * 1980 – First Hepatitis B vaccine, vaccine for hepatitis B – Baruch Samuel Blumberg * 1980 – Cloning of interferons – Sidney Pestka * 1981 – Artificial skin – John F. Burke and Ioannis V Yannas * 1981 – Bruce Reitz performs the first human heart-lung combined transplant * 1982 – Human insulin – Eli Lilly * 1985 – Automated DNA sequencer – Leroy Hood and Lloyd Smith * 1985 – Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) – Kary Mullis * 1985 – Surgical robot – Yik San Kwoh * 1985 – DNA fingerprinting – Alec Jeffreys * 1985 – Capsule endoscopy – Tarun Mullick * 1986 – Fluoxetine HCl – Eli Lilly and Co * 1987 – commercially available Statins – Merck & Co. * 1987 – Tissue engineering – Joseph Vacanti & Robert Langer * 1988 – Stent, Intravascular stent – Julio Palmaz * 1988 – Laser cataract surgery – Patricia Bath * 1989 – Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) – Alan Handyside * 1989 – DNA microarray – Stephen Fodor * 1990 – Gamow bag® – Igor Gamow * 1992 – First Hepatitis A vaccine, vaccine for hepatitis A available * 1992 – Electroactive polymers (artificial muscle) – SRI International * 1992 – Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – Andre van Steirteghem * 1995 – Adult stem cell use in regeneration of tissues and organs in vivo – B. G Matapurkar U.S . International Patent * 1996 – Dolly (sheep), Dolly the Sheep cloned * 1998 – Stem cell therapy – James Thomson


2000–2022

* 2000 – The Human Genome Project draft was completed. * 2001 – The first telesurgery was performed by Jacques Marescaux. * 2003 – Carlo Urbani, of Doctors without Borders alerted the World Health Organization to the threat of the SARS virus, triggering the most effective response to an epidemic in history. Urbani succumbs to the disease himself in less than a month. * 2005 – Jean-Michel Dubernard performs the first partial face transplant. * 2006 – First HPV vaccine approved. * 2006 – The second rotavirus vaccine approved (first was withdrawn). * 2007 – The visual prosthetic (bionic eye) Argus II. * 2008 – Laurent Lantieri performs the first full face transplant. * 2011 – First successful Uterus transplant from a deceased donor in Turkey * 2013 – The first kidney was grown ''in vitro'' in the U.S. * 2013 – The first human liver was grown from stem cells in Japan. * 2014 – A 3D printer is used for first ever skull transplant. * 2016 – The first ever artificial pancreas was created * 2019 – 3D-print heart from human patient's cells. * 2020 – First COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine for Coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19. * 2022 – The complete human genome is sequenced.


See also

* Timeline of antibiotics * Timeline of vaccines * Timeline of hospitals


Further reading

* 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 18, Medicine, Wikisource.


Notes

Reference: 1. International patent USA. .wef 1995. US PTO no.6227202 and 20020007223. 2. R. Maingot's Text Book of Abdominal operations.1997 USA. 3. Text book of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2010 J P Publishers.


References

Matapurkar B G. (1995). US international Patent 6227202 and 20020007223.medical use of Adult Stem cells. A new physiological phenomenon of Desired Metaplasia for regeneration of tissues and organs in vivo. Annals of NYAS 1998. * Bynum, W. F. and Roy Porter, eds. ''Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine'' (2 vol. 1997); 1840pp; 72 long essays by scholar
excerpt and text search
* Conrad, Lawrence I. et al. '' The Western Medical Tradition: 800 BC to AD 1800'' (1995)
excerpt and text search
** Bynum, W.F. et al. ''The Western Medical Tradition: 1800-2000'' (2006
excerpt and text search
* Loudon, Irvine, ed. ''Western Medicine: An Illustrated History'' (1997
online
* McGrew, Roderick. ''Encyclopedia of Medical History'' (1985) * * Porter, Roy, ed. '' The Cambridge History of Medicine'' (2006); 416pp;
excerpt and text search
** Porter, Roy, ed. '' The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine'' (2001
excerpt and text searchexcerpt and text search
* Singer, Charles, and E. Ashworth Underwood. ''A Short History of Medicine'' (2nd ed. 1962) * Watts, Sheldon. ''Disease and Medicine in World History'' (2003), 166p
online


External links


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