History of Medicine

History of Medicine

History of Medicine: Andy Walker's History of Medicine website includes activities on Roman Public Health, Renaissance Medicine, Women in Medicine, Nursing and Nightingale, Louis Pasteur and Edward Jenner. There are also exam papers, revision tests and revision tips. If you are a student and want some advice you also have the opportunity to email Andy Walker for help.

Doctor Over Time: It didn't really matter what ailed you. If you were sick in 1900, your doctor couldn't do much more than provide comfort until your body defeated the illness, or until the illness defeated you. The doctor had a few goodies in his little black bag, though: morphine and aspirin to ease pain, quinine to fight off malaria, smallpox vaccine, and digitalis for heart failure. How that black bag has grown in the past century! There are medicines and treatments for almost every illness known to man. This activity shows how doctors over this century would have handled the same afflictions. All you have to do is complain to the doctor, then see how he or she responds.

Old Operating Theatre Museum: The Operating Theatre was built in 1822 in the old Herb Garret of St Thomas's Hospital. While the Garret has a charming old world atmosphere of oak beams and bundles of herbs, the Theatre itself is a shocking reminder of the harsh reality of life before modern science and technology. Britain's oldest surviving Operating Theatre has been restored with much original furniture, including a 19th Century operating table. This is an innovative site that gives you a 360 Panoramic Tour of the Operating Theatre and the Herb Garret.

Medical Timelines: HistoryWorld is a general history site, covering all subjects, but it is particularly strong on medicine thanks to the Wellcome Trust. Their magnificent contribution, written specifically for the site by Dr. Carole Reeves, provides a wealth of fascinating material and images. Dr. Reeves follows seven medical themes through time, investigating each in lively detail. Each of her articles is accompanied by an illustrated timeline, and these provide the most enjoyable way of getting into the material. At a single click you will find yourself absorbed in an illustrated timeline on Birth, Death, Drugs, Hospitals, Plagues, Surgery and Technology.

Rudiments of Wisdom: Medicine: Tim Hunkin trained as an engineer, but then became a cartoonist, drawing the Rudiments of Wisdom Encyclopaedia for the Observer newspaper for 14 years. These educational cartoons later appeared in book form and now they are available free on Tim Hunkin's website. This includes a good section on the history of medicine. Subjects covered include Anaesthetics, Antiseptics, Bacteria, Bubonic Plague, Cancer, Cholera, Homeopathy, Influenza, Surgery and Vaccination.