The Scientific Revolution

1750 – 1900

Real Progress v New Problems

The Industrial Revolution

• A period of profound changes– Some changes helped

medical development– Some changes created

new medical problems

• Britain started Industrialising first– Europe follows soon

after

Industrial Manufacturing• Progress

– Precision manufacturing of medical tools and equipment possible

– Cheaper production of medical goods

– More money available

• Problems– Poor Working

conditions– Long Hours– Close contact with

large population of workers

– Poor posture or physically demanding work

– Rapid development of weaponry

Example of Industrial Manufacturing 1

• The Microscope– Advances in glass making allowed

for better lenses• Designed by Joseph Jackson

Lister (1786-1869), father of the surgeon Joseph Lister, in 1826.

The first microscope to use an achromatic objective lens corrected for chromatic and spherical aberrations, the resulting image was for the time the clearest produced by any microscope

Example of Industrial Manufacturing 2

• Syringes– Advances in

steel manufacturing allowed the production of a thin syringe needle that did not break and was more comfortable for the patient

Example of Industrial Manufacturing 3

• Thermometers– Advances in glass making and improved scientific

understanding allowed the first glass thermometres to be produced

Urbanisation• Progress

– Exposure to germs at a young age can lead to the building up of immunity to the disease

• Problems– Poor Housing– Cramped Populations– Breeding Grounds for

Germs– Infected water

Communications

• Progress– Steam Trains– Telegraph– Steam Ships

• News can spread quickly

• Doctors, researchers, inventors can all move around and share ideas more efficiently

• Problems– Large Population

shifts• Internationally

– Pathogens can move around the world much quicker

– Pathogens can infect populations with little or no resistance to the disease

Example of Communication Problem

• Cholera– Spread from India to Britain in the 1830s– India was a British Colony

• The local Indian population had built up some immunity of the disease.

• The effect in Britain was devastating.

Entrepreneurs

• Progress– Provide money for research

and development– Market new medical products

• Problems– Quack Remedies

• Sell any concoction to desperate patients

Quack Claims: Perkins Tractors

• Supposedly draws out diseases!

Quack Claims: Phrenology

Quack Claims: Comparative Anatomy

Quack Claims: Eye Massagers

• Massage eyeballs to improve eyesight

Quack Claims: Magnetic Healing

Quack Claims: Electric Bath

Political Change

• Democracy– As more people are given the vote, these

people are expecting more from their representatives

• Dead voters don’t vote

• Government– Becomes more efficient

• Technology• Education• Communications• Organisation

• Competition with other governments– Don’t wish to fall behind rivals

Educational Improvements• More people can read and write• Higher Education

– Universities• More modern and relevant subjects taught

– Less RE and Classics

• Medical training available

• Scientific Specialisation• Mathematics and Statistics used to aid research

and understanding of spread of diseases

• Page 114– Look at the totals on the bottom line– List the Four most likely causes for death for under 5’s

and then for over 5’s– Plot a simple graph showing the age distribution of

deaths from Under 1 to 60 and Up

Were doctors and medicines useful?

• Dispensaries and Patent medicines provided a cheap alternative from visiting expensive doctors.

• Page 122/123– Read Sources 1 and 2– Answer questions 1 to 5

• Draw the packaging for your own patented cure all.

• Include– Name– Logo– Medical Claims– Testimonies– Pricing– Dosage

Would your child survive game

• Page 120/1• Use a coin or small object

– Choose a family from Box A– Choose a Healing method from Box B– Follow the instructions on the squares on page

121– Write down the course of events in your

exercise book– When completed note down how the family

would have felt about the whole experience– If you have time try another family and healing

method

How long did you expect to live?

• Compare the two graphs on page 114– Copy them into your exercise book– What do they tell us about health and

medical developments in the nineteenth century?

• Mention infants, men, women and the trends• How can you account for these trends?

• List all the threats to public health p140

Was the countryside any

safer?

The Cholera EpidemicsWho or what was to

blame?– Complete table on

page 141 with sources 4 to 8

– Source 3 – Explain why cigars were advertised as a preventative for cholera

• Explain the symptoms of cholera page 140

John Snow – Discovering the Causes of Cholera

• Using Statistics– Look at the map on page 143– Note the Broad Street Pump (green)– Note the number of cholera deaths

in the surrounding area– Note the workhouse and brewery

casualty rates– Write a letter to the Public Health

Authorities summarising your findings and your recommendations for the Broad Street area and advice for the whole of London.

• List all the factors that helped John Snow make his deduction

Dr Dunstaple

• Summarise Dr Dunstaple’s ideas about Cholera

• Summarise Dr McNabb’s

• Summarise Mr Simmons’ conclusions

• Why do you think people were sceptical about Dr McNabb’s ideas?

Florence Nightingale

• Florence Nightingale would challenge the ideas of Public Health within the armed forces.

• The Army and Navy had got used to losing more soldiers and sailors from disease than from warfare.

• Nightingale would change that idea

Florence Nightingale

• Born in Florence, Italy• 12 May 1820• A wealthy family

Florence Nightingale

• Returned to England in 1821• Taught at home with her

older sister• Mathematics• Felt a ‘calling’ to help the

sick and needy• Stipend from father

One of Florence Nightingale’s childhood homes – Lea Hurst, Derbyshire

The Nightingales spent part of the year here and part of the year in Hampshire

Kaiserwerth• A newly built German institution to help the sick

Florence Nightingale• In 1854 the Crimean War broke out

– England was at war with Russia• Communications advances taught

the British Public about the harsh conditions for the soldiers– William Russell – The Times

• Public outcry – the government had to respond– Florence was invited to take a group of

38 female nurses to work in hospitals in the Crimea.

Scutari

Scutari

Scutari

Polar Area Diagram

The blue wedges measured from the centre of the circle represent area for area the deaths from Preventable or Mitigable diseases, the red wedges measured from the centre the deaths from wounds, & the black wedges measured from the centre the deaths from all other causes.

Royal Commission, 1857

• To investigate the disasters of the Crimean War. This was an independent, high-level committee appointed to look into a problem and recommend changes.

• Women were not allowed to be on the commission or testify so she writes and compiles facts about the war and sends it all to the commission

School for Nurses, 1860

• Turned nursing into a respected profession with proper training for well motivated individuals

• Student nurses would learn:– The role of Hygiene– Caring for the sick– Fresh air, ventilation– Organisation

• Students would be sent to hospitals and war zones all over the world.

Florence Nightingale• War finished in 1856 Florence returned to

England. • She wanted to improve hospitals in this country• Conditions in hospitals began to improve• Florence died of old age in 1910• She was buried near to her parents’ home in

Hampshire.

1883 Royal Red Cross

1907 Order of Merit

Why was public health finally improved?

• 1875 Public Health Act– Explain what it set out to do?

• List the factors that lead to the government finally doing something in 1875