Individual and Society Essay -- Essays Papers

Individual and Society Medicine Since 1715 Medicine has been a great advancement in society. Without the advancement in medicine, we would not have the lifestyle that we do today. Many different nations and individuals within those nations have contributed to this progression. Medicine has greatly increased the life- span of humans. We are where we stand today because of the many great people we have had in our history who contributed to and performed medical advances. The tests and theories of these people have been a major contributing factor. William Cullen said, "Every one nowadays pretends to neglect theory, and to stick to observation. But the first is in talk only, for every man has his theory, good or bad, which he occasionally employs; and the only difference is, that weak men who have little extent of ability for, or have had little experience in reasoning, are most liable to be attached to frivolous theories."1 William Cullen's expression concerning the importance of theories was proved to be correct due to the many contributions of the theories of those who studied medicine. In 1790, the birthrate was high, along with the death rate. The majority of deaths occurred among the infants and young children. The death rate of the population as a whole was higher than today. Although children born had only a 75% chance of surviving past the age of five, the beginning advances in medicine aided the population growth causing the population to increase in England. The medical schools, hospitals, medical societies and journals, medical knowledge, and doctors of 1790 did not perform life- prolonging therapeutics. In Science and the practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century, it was concluded that "many laymen, and... ...Sheikh, Eastern and Western Approaches to Healing (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1989), 65. BIBLIOGRAPHY Sheikh, Anees A., and Katharina S. Sheikh. Eastern and Western Approaches to Healing. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1989. Proctor, Robert N. Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988. Bynum, W.F. Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Taegu. "Yakryongshi-Market of Herb Medicine." Websites in Taegu. (c) 1996, JAC. n. pag. Online. Internet. 21 March, 1999 Available http://www.taegu.co.kr/h_045 .html "History of Medicine and Health." n. pag. Online. Internet. 21 March, 1999. Available http://ihs2.unn.ac.uk:8080/hhist.htm "Anatomy of an Epidemic." n. pag. Online. Internet. 21 March, 1999. Available http://library .advanced.org/11170/