A History of Medicine

Last week I took a trip by myself to the Science Museum. Frommer had told me that it was a must see museum (it had lots of little stars beside it) and I thought that since I am a science major I would probably find it interesting. As I walked in I was overwhelmed by children, apparently I didn't read the part of the guide book where Frommer said what a great place the museum was to bring your kids; however, regardless of the young ones, I made my way up to the fifth floor where there is a history of Medicine exhibit. Luckily this exhibit was a bit boring for children, so I took my time and learned a lot about the advances in medicine throughout time. This made me realize how much of our modern medicine practices we use today come from the 20th century.
In 1928 Scotish bacteriologist left a Petri dish uncleaned thus discovering penicillin. Alexander Flemming’s discovery was turned into the miracle drug of the 20th century almost a decade later. The discovery of the fungus is still used today to treat many bacterial infections. Mengele, a German doctor who worked at the concentration camps, did many experiments on the prisoners. Most of his experiments had to do with twins. Although his methods were unethical and terrifying, much of what we know today about twins came from Mengele’s work. In 1978, scientists in Great Britain produced the world’s first test tube baby. As controversial as this was seen, it has helped many infertile couples have a baby.
Many of the procedures and methods that one might think as obvious today were discovered in Europe in the 20th century. A British obstetrician in 1900 made the observation that only human blood should be used in transfusions. Gregor Mendel, and Austrian botanist, published his observations of genetics; this provided us with much of the information about heredity we still use today. Polish/French scientist Marie Curie discovered and experimented with radiation. This led to the use of x-rays and the treatment of cancers. Polish biochemist Casimir Funk identified vitamins. Also the discovery and use of the pacemaker, artificial organs, and organ transplants happened during this time.
There are numerous more medical advances that happened in the 20th century. Living so close to the places the scientists made these discoveries is inspiring. It is most interesting to me to wonder about the vast advances that will occur in the next century.