The History of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century
Medicine has come a long way since the twentieth century, and much has come from ancient times, but it is true that advances in medicine did occur in the nineteenth century as well, and these events may be considered quite significant. There were different systems of medicine at the time, and while there were many united ideas through the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century, it is also the case that general ideas differed from the medicine practiced by slaves (Valencius 54). At the time, the Europeans contributed much to medical knowledge (Valencius 54). From there emerged the stethoscope, which enabled doctors to hear the sounds made by the body (Valencius 54). Another thing is that while the microscope existed prior to the time, it would become more popular during the nineteenth century (Valencius 54). Many inventions would spring up, and new theories would emerge as well. Inventions did help doctors to perform better. In this day and age, people are aware that new equipment means that physicians are able to make better diagnoses. Yet, at the time that simple things were invented, one can imagine that it was much more important. Yes, Doppler technology allows obstetricians to listen to the fetal heart beat today, but prior to that invention, physicians knew that the baby was healthy through other methods. By contrast, the invention of the original stethoscope allowed physicians to diagnose heart conditions when there was nothing else to help to that end. Another important thing that occurred is that in Paris, the doctors would begin to quantify data (Valencius 54). This was a new step in medical research methodology. Here