Editing Medicine (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of medicine}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of medicine and medical technology}}
[[File:Imhotep-Louvre.JPG|thumb|upright|Statuette of ancient Egyptian physician [[Imhotep]], the first physician from antiquity known by name]]

=== Ancient world ===
[[Prehistoric medicine]] incorporated plants ([[herbalism]]), animal parts, and minerals. In many cases these materials were used ritually as magical substances by priests, [[shamans]], or [[medicine man|medicine men]]. Well-known spiritual systems include [[animism]] (the notion of inanimate objects having spirits), [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|spiritualism]] (an appeal to gods or communion with ancestor spirits); [[shamanism]] (the vesting of an individual with mystic powers); and [[divination]] (magically obtaining the truth). The field of [[medical anthropology]] examines the ways in which culture and society are organized around or impacted by issues of health, health care and related issues.

The earliest known medical texts in the world were found in the ancient [[Syria]]n city of [[Ebla]] and date back to 2500 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Radner |first1=Karen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nvgz3NOuo5EC&dq=oldest+medical+recipes+ebla&pg=PA690 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture |last2=Robson |first2=Eleanor |date=2011-09-22 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-955730-1 |language=en |access-date=26 December 2023 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227154617/https://books.google.com/books?id=Nvgz3NOuo5EC&dq=oldest+medical+recipes+ebla&pg=PA690 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Vogel |first1=Wolfgang H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t_5pzrF1QocC&dq=oldest+medical+ebla&pg=PA16 |title=Brief History of Vision and Ocular Medicine |last2=Berke |first2=Andreas |date=2009 |publisher=Kugler Publications |isbn=978-90-6299-220-1 |language=en |access-date=26 December 2023 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227083815/https://books.google.com/books?id=t_5pzrF1QocC&dq=oldest+medical+ebla&pg=PA16 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Page(5) https://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Five_Articles_about_Drugs_Medicine__Alcohol_From_ANEToday_E-book.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120032650/https://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Five_Articles_about_Drugs_Medicine__Alcohol_From_ANEToday_E-book.pdf |date=20 January 2024 }}</ref> Other early records on medicine have been discovered from [[ancient Egyptian medicine]], [[Babylonian Medicine]], [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] medicine (in the [[Indian subcontinent]]), [[classical Chinese medicine]] ([[Alternative medicine]]) predecessor to the modern [[traditional Chinese medicine]]), and [[ancient Greek medicine]] and [[Medicine in ancient Rome|Roman medicine]].

In Egypt, [[Imhotep]] (3rd millennium BCE) is the first physician in history known by name. The oldest [[Egyptian medical papyri|Egyptian medical text]] is the ''[[Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus]]'' from around 2000 BCE, which describes gynaecological diseases. The ''[[Edwin Smith Papyrus]]'' dating back to 1600 BCE is an early work on surgery, while the ''[[Ebers Papyrus]]'' dating back to 1500 BCE is akin to a textbook on medicine.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ackerknecht |first=Erwin |title=A Short History of Medicine |url= https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofme00acke |url-access=registration |year=1982 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-2726-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofme00acke/page/22 22] }}</ref>

In China, archaeological evidence of medicine in Chinese dates back to the [[Bronze Age]] [[Shang dynasty]], based on seeds for herbalism and tools presumed to have been used for surgery.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hong |first=Francis |title=History of Medicine in China |journal=McGill Journal of Medicine |year=2004 |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=7984 |url=http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/MJM/issues/v08n01/crossroads/hong.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131201231218/http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/MJM/issues/v08n01/crossroads/hong.pdf |archive-date=1 December 2013 }}</ref> The ''[[Huangdi Neijing]]'', the progenitor of Chinese medicine, is a medical text written beginning in the 2nd century BCE and compiled in the 3rd century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Unschuld|first=Pual|title=Huang Di Nei Jing: Nature, Knowledge, Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N2ZdrPCbpNIC&pg=PR9|year=2003|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-92849-7|page=ix|access-date=14 November 2015|archive-date=18 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418053843/https://books.google.com/books?id=N2ZdrPCbpNIC&pg=PR9|url-status=live}}</ref>

In India, the surgeon [[Sushruta]] described numerous surgical operations, including the earliest forms of [[plastic surgery]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rana RE, Arora BS | title = History of plastic surgery in India | journal = Journal of Postgraduate Medicine | volume = 48 | issue = 1 | pages = 76–78 | year = 2002 | pmid = 12082339 }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=See this article's talk page under the section heading '''Reliability(History - India)'''|date=July 2024}}{{cn|date=July 2024}}Earliest records of dedicated hospitals come from Mihintale in [[Sri Lanka]] where evidence of dedicated medicinal treatment facilities for patients are found.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Aluvihare A | title = Rohal Kramaya Lovata Dhayadha Kale Sri Lankikayo. | journal = Vidhusara Science Magazine | date = November 1993 | pages = 5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Rannan-Eliya RP, De Mel N | title = Resource mobilization in Sri Lanka's health sector | work = Harvard School of Public Health & Health Policy Programme, Institute of Policy Studies | date = 9 February 1997 | url = http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ihsg/publications/pdf/No-42.PDF | page = 19 | access-date = 16 July 2009 | archive-date = 29 October 2001 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20011029204848/http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ihsg/publications/pdf/No-42.PDF | url-status = live }}</ref>
[[File:HSAsclepiusKos retouched.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Mosaic on the floor of the [[Asclepieion]] of Kos, depicting [[Hippocrates]], with [[Asklepius]] in the middle (2nd–3rd century)]]
In Greece, the ancient Greek physician [[Hippocrates]], the "father of modern medicine",<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Grammaticos PC, Diamantis A | title = Useful known and unknown views of the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates and his teacher Democritus | journal = Hellenic Journal of Nuclear Medicine | volume = 11 | issue = 1 | pages = 2–4 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18392218 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/eccmid16/abstract.asp?id=50854 The father of modern medicine: the first research of the physical factor of tetanus] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118132902/http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/eccmid16/abstract.asp?id=50854 |date=18 November 2011 }}, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases</ref> laid the foundation for a rational approach to medicine. Hippocrates introduced the [[Hippocratic Oath]] for physicians, which is still relevant and in use today, and was the first to categorize illnesses as [[Acute (medical)|acute]], [[Chronic (medicine)|chronic]], [[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]] and epidemic, and use terms such as, "exacerbation, [[relapse]], resolution, crisis, [[paroxysm]], peak, and [[convalescence]]".<ref>{{cite book | last = Garrison | first = Fielding H. | year = 1966 | title = History of Medicine | publisher = W.B. Saunders Company | place = [[Philadelphia]] | page = 97 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Martí-Ibáñez | first = Félix | year = 1961 | title = A Prelude to Medical History | publisher = MD Publications, Inc. | place = [[New York City|New York]] | id = Library of Congress ID: 61-11617 | page = 90 }}</ref> The Greek physician [[Galen]] was also one of the greatest surgeons of the ancient world and performed many audacious operations, including brain and eye surgeries. After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]] and the onset of the [[Early Middle Ages]], the Greek tradition of medicine went into decline in Western Europe, although it continued uninterrupted in the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire]].

Most of our knowledge of ancient [[Hebrew medicine]] during the [[1st millennium BC|1st&nbsp;millennium&nbsp;BC]] comes from the [[Torah]], i.e.&nbsp;the Five Books of [[Moses]], which contain various health related laws and rituals. The Hebrew contribution to the development of modern medicine started in the [[Byzantine Era]], with the physician [[Asaph the Jew]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0013_0_13493.html |title=Medicine |website=Encyclopaedia Judaica |year=2008 |first1=Samuel |last1=Vaisrub |first2=Michael |last2=A. Denman |first3=Yaakov |last3=Naparstek |first4=Dan |last4=Gilon |publisher=The Gale Group |access-date=27 August 2014 |archive-date=18 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518071643/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0013_0_13493.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah.JPG|thumb|left|A manuscript of ''[[Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah]]'' by [[Ali al-Ridha]], the eighth Imam of [[Twelver|Shia Muslims]]. The text says: "Golden dissertation in medicine which is sent by Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, peace be upon him, to [[al-Ma'mun]]."]]

The concept of hospital as institution to offer medical care and possibility of a cure for the patients due to the ideals of Christian charity, rather than just merely a place to die, appeared in the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Lindberg | first = David | date = 1992 | title = The Beginnings of Western Science | url = https://archive.org/details/beginningsofwest00lind | url-access = registration | publisher = University of Chicago Press | page = [https://archive.org/details/beginningsofwest00lind/page/349 349] | isbn = 978-0-226-48231-6 }}</ref>

Although the concept of [[uroscopy]] was known to Galen, he did not see the importance of using it to localize the disease. It was under the Byzantines with physicians such of [[Theophilus Protospatharius]] that they realized the potential in uroscopy to determine disease in a time when no microscope or stethoscope existed. That practice eventually spread to the rest of Europe.<ref>{{cite book | last = Prioreschi | first = Plinio | date = 2004 | title = A History of Medicine: Byzantine and Islamic medicine. | publisher = Horatius Press | pages = 146 }}</ref>

After 750 CE, the Muslim world had the works of Hippocrates, Galen and Sushruta translated into [[Arabic]], and [[Islamic medicine|Islamic physicians]] engaged in some significant medical research. Notable Islamic medical pioneers include the Persian [[polymath]], [[Avicenna]], who, along with Imhotep and Hippocrates, has also been called the "father of medicine".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Becka J | title = [The father of medicine, Avicenna, in our science and culture. Abu Ali ibn Sina (980–1037)] | language = cs | journal = Casopis Lekaru Ceskych | volume = 119 | issue = 1 | pages = 17–23 | date = January 1980 | pmid = 6989499 }}</ref> He wrote ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'' which became a standard medical text at many medieval European [[University|universities]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hcs.osu.edu/hort/history/023.html |title=Avicenna 980–1037 |publisher= Hcs.osu.edu |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007070250/http://hcs.osu.edu/hort/history/023.html |archive-date=7 October 2008 }}</ref> considered one of the most famous books in the history of medicine.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-92902/The-Canon-of-Medicine |title="The Canon of Medicine" (work by Avicenna) |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |year=2008 |access-date=11 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528230506/https://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-92902/The-Canon-of-Medicine |archive-date=28 May 2008 }}</ref> Others include [[Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi|Abulcasis]],<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Ahmad Z | title = Al-Zahrawi – The Father of Surgery|journal=ANZ Journal of Surgery|year=2007|volume=77|issue=Suppl. 1|doi=10.1111/j.1445-2197.2007.04130_8.x|page=A83| s2cid = 57308997}}</ref> [[Ibn Zuhr|Avenzoar]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Abdel-Halim RE | title = Contributions of Muhadhdhab Al-Deen Al-Baghdadi to the progress of medicine and urology. A study and translations from his book Al-Mukhtar | journal = Saudi Medical Journal | volume = 27 | issue = 11 | pages = 1631–1641 | date = November 2006 | pmid = 17106533 }}</ref> [[Ibn al-Nafis]],<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/78110223/Traditional-Medicine-Among-Gulf-Arabs |year=2004 |title=Chairman's Reflections: Traditional Medicine Among Gulf Arabs, Part II: Blood-letting |journal=Heart Views |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=74–85 [80] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308101134/http://www.scribd.com/doc/78110223/Traditional-Medicine-Among-Gulf-Arabs |archive-date=8 March 2013 }}</ref> and [[Averroes]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Martín-Araguz A, Bustamante-Martínez C, Fernández-Armayor Ajo V, Moreno-Martínez JM | title = [Neuroscience in Al Andalus and its influence on medieval scholastic medicine] | language = es | journal = Revista de Neurología | volume = 34 | issue = 9 | pages = 877–892 | date = 1 May 2002 | pmid = 12134355 | doi=10.33588/rn.3409.2001382}}</ref> [[Persians|Persian]] physician [[Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi|Rhazes]]<ref name="tschanz-2003">{{cite journal | last = Tschanz | first = David W. | year = 2003 | title = Arab(?) Roots of European Medicine | journal = Heart Views | volume = 4 | issue = 2 | url = http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199703/the.arab.roots.of.european.medicine.htm | access-date = 9 June 2013 | archive-date = 3 May 2004 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040503004153/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199703/the.arab.roots.of.european.medicine.htm | url-status = live }} [http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst372/readings/tschanz.html copy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041130161059/http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst372/readings/tschanz.html |date=30 November 2004 }}</ref> was one of the first to question the Greek theory of [[humorism]], which nevertheless remained influential in both medieval Western and medieval Islamic medicine.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Pormann | first1 = Peter E. | last2 = Savage-Smith | first2 = Emilie | author2-link=Emilie Savage-Smith |year=2007 | chapter = On the dominance of the Greek humoral theory, which was the basis for the practice of bloodletting |title=Medieval Islamic medicine |publisher=Georgetown University |location=Washington DC |pages=10, 43–45 |ol=12911905W}}</ref> Some volumes of Rhazes's work ''Al-Mansuri'', namely "On Surgery" and "A General Book on Therapy", became part of the medical curriculum in European universities.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | publisher = Springer| pages = 155–156| last = Iskandar| first = Albert | title = Al-Rāzī | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures| year = 2006| edition=2nd}}</ref> Additionally, he has been described as a doctor's doctor,<ref>{{cite book | last = Ganchy | first = Sally | title = Islam and Science, Medicine, and Technology | url = https://archive.org/details/islamsciencemedi0000ganc | url-access = registration | location = New York | publisher = Rosen Pub. | date = 2008 }}</ref> the father of pediatrics,<ref name="tschanz-2003" /><ref name="elgood-2010">{{cite book|last1=Elgood |first1= Cyril|title=A Medical History of Persia and The Eastern Caliphate|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge|location=London|isbn=978-1-108-01588-2|pages=202–203|edition=1st|quote=By writing a monograph on 'Diseases in Children' he may also be looked upon as the father of paediatrics.}}</ref> and a pioneer of ophthalmology. For example, he was the first to recognize the reaction of the eye's pupil to light.<ref name="elgood-2010" /> The Persian [[Bimaristan]] hospitals were an early example of [[public hospital]]s.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last= Micheau |first=Françoise |date=1996 |entry=The Scientific Institutions in the Medieval Near East |veditors=Rashed R, Morelon R |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science |pages=991–992 |publisher=Routledge}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first = Peter | last = Barrett |year=2004 |title=Science and Theology Since Copernicus: The Search for Understanding |page=18 |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-567-08969-4}}</ref>

In Europe, [[Charlemagne]] decreed that a hospital should be attached to each cathedral and monastery and the historian [[Geoffrey Blainey]] likened the [[Catholic Church and health care|activities of the Catholic Church in health care]] during the Middle Ages to an early version of a welfare state: "It conducted hospitals for the old and orphanages for the young; hospices for the sick of all ages; places for the lepers; and hostels or inns where pilgrims could buy a cheap bed and meal". It supplied food to the population during famine and distributed food to the poor. This welfare system the church funded through collecting taxes on a large scale and possessing large farmlands and estates. The [[Benedictine]] order was noted for setting up hospitals and infirmaries in their monasteries, growing medical herbs and becoming the chief medical care givers of their districts, as at the great [[Abbey of Cluny]]. The Church also established a network of [[cathedral schools]] and universities where medicine was studied. The [[Schola Medica Salernitana]] in Salerno, looking to the learning of [[Greeks|Greek]] and [[Arab]] physicians, grew to be the finest medical school in medieval Europe.<ref>{{cite book | last = Blainey | first = Geoffrey |year=2011 |title=A Short History of Christianity |publisher=Penguin Viking |pages=214–215 |oclc=793902685 |title-link=A Short History of Christianity }}</ref>

[[File:SantaMariaDellaScalaSienaBack.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Siena's [[Santa Maria della Scala (Siena)|Santa Maria della Scala Hospital]], one of Europe's oldest hospitals. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church established universities to revive the study of sciences, drawing on the learning of Greek and Arab physicians in the study of medicine.]]

However, the fourteenth and fifteenth century [[Black Death]] devastated both the Middle East and Europe, and it has even been argued that Western Europe was generally more effective in recovering from the pandemic than the Middle East.{{efn|Michael Dols has shown that the Black Death was much more commonly believed by European authorities than by Middle Eastern authorities to be contagious; as a result, flight was more commonly counseled, and in urban Italy quarantines were organized on a much wider level than in urban Egypt or Syria.<ref>{{cite book | first = Michael W. | last = Dols |title=The Black Death in the Middle East |publisher=Princeton |year=1977 |pages=119, 285–290 |oclc=2296964 }}</ref>}} In the early modern period, important early figures in medicine and anatomy emerged in Europe, including [[Gabriele Falloppio]] and [[William Harvey]].

The major shift in medical thinking was the gradual rejection, especially during the [[Black Death]] in the 14th and 15th centuries, of what may be called the "traditional authority" approach to science and medicine. This was the notion that because some prominent person in the past said something must be so, then that was the way it was, and anything one observed to the contrary was an anomaly (which was paralleled by a similar shift in European society in general – see [[Nicolaus Copernicus|Copernicus]]'s rejection of [[Ptolemy]]'s theories on astronomy). Physicians like [[Vesalius]] improved upon or disproved some of the theories from the past. The main tomes used both by medicine students and expert physicians were [[Materia Medica]] and [[Pharmacopoeia]].

[[Andreas Vesalius]] was the author of ''[[De humani corporis fabrica]]'', an important book on [[human anatomy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ceb.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/books.htm |title=Page through a virtual copy of Vesalius's ''De Humanis Corporis Fabrica'' |publisher=Archive.nlm.nih.gov |access-date=21 April 2012 |archive-date=11 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011220907/http://ceb.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/books.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Bacteria and microorganisms were first observed with a microscope by [[Antonie van Leeuwenhoek]] in 1676, initiating the scientific field [[microbiology]].<ref>{{cite book |veditors= Madigan M, Martinko J | title = Brock Biology of Microorganisms | edition = 11th | publisher = Prentice Hall | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-13-144329-7 }}</ref> Independently from Ibn al-Nafis, [[Michael Servetus]] rediscovered the [[pulmonary circulation]], but this discovery did not reach the public because it was written down for the first time in the "Manuscript of Paris"<ref>[http://michaelservetusresearch.com/ENGLISH/works.html Michael Servetus Research] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113223851/http://www.michaelservetusresearch.com/ENGLISH/works.html |date=13 November 2012 }} Website with a graphical study on the Manuscript of Paris by Servetus</ref> in 1546, and later published in the theological work for which he paid with his life in 1553. Later this was described by [[Renaldus Columbus]] and [[Andrea Cesalpino]]. [[Herman Boerhaave]] is sometimes referred to as a "father of physiology" due to his exemplary teaching in Leiden and textbook 'Institutiones medicae' (1708). [[Pierre Fauchard]] has been called "the father of modern [[dentistry]]".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lynch CD, O'Sullivan VR, McGillycuddy CT | title = Pierre Fauchard: the 'father of modern dentistry' | journal = British Dental Journal | volume = 201 | issue = 12 | pages = 779–781 | date = December 2006 | pmid = 17183395 | doi = 10.1038/sj.bdj.4814350 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

=== Modern ===
{{Redirect|Modern medicine|the art exhibition|Modern Medicine (art exhibition)}}[[File:Paul-Louis Simond injecting plague vaccine June 4th 1898 Karachi.jpg|thumb|[[Paul-Louis Simond]] injecting a plague vaccine in [[Karachi]], 1898]]

Veterinary medicine was, for the first time, truly separated from human medicine in 1761, when the French veterinarian [[Claude Bourgelat]] founded the world's first veterinary school in Lyon, France. Before this, medical doctors treated both humans and other animals.

Modern scientific [[biomedical research]] (where results are testable and [[reproducible]]) began to replace early Western traditions based on herbalism, the Greek "four humours" and other such pre-modern notions. The modern era really began with [[Edward Jenner]]'s discovery of the [[smallpox vaccine]] at the end of the 18th century (inspired by the method of [[variolation]] originated in ancient China),<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Gareth|title=Angel of Death|year=2010|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-0-230-27471-6}}</ref> [[Robert Koch]]'s discoveries around 1880 of the transmission of disease by bacteria, and then the discovery of [[antibiotic]]s around 1900.

The post-18th century [[modernity]] period brought more groundbreaking researchers from Europe. From [[Germany]] and Austria, doctors [[Rudolf Virchow]], [[Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen]], [[Karl Landsteiner]] and [[Otto Loewi]] made notable contributions. In the [[United Kingdom]], [[Alexander Fleming]], [[Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister|Joseph Lister]], [[Francis Crick]] and [[Florence Nightingale]] are considered important. [[Spain|Spanish]] doctor [[Santiago Ramón y Cajal]] is considered the father of modern [[neuroscience]].

From New Zealand and Australia came [[Maurice Wilkins]], [[Howard Florey]], and [[Frank Macfarlane Burnet]].

Others that did significant work include [[William Williams Keen]], [[William Coley]], [[James D. Watson]] (United States); [[Salvador Luria]] (Italy); [[Alexandre Yersin]] (Switzerland); [[Kitasato Shibasaburō]] (Japan); [[Jean-Martin Charcot]], [[Claude Bernard]], [[Paul Broca]] (France); [[Adolfo Lutz]] (Brazil); [[Nikolai Korotkov]] (Russia); [[William Osler|Sir William Osler]] (Canada); and [[Harvey Cushing]] (United States).

As science and technology developed, medicine became more reliant upon [[medication]]s. Throughout history and in Europe right until the late 18th century, not only plant products were used as medicine, but also animal (including human) body parts and fluids.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Peter |last=Cooper |title=Medicinal properties of body parts |journal=The Pharmaceutical Journal |year=2004 |volume=273 |issue=7330 |pages=900–902 |url=http://www.pharmj.com/editorial/20041218/christmas/p900bodyparts.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203131508/http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/20041218/christmas/p900bodyparts.html |archive-date=3 December 2008 }}</ref> [[Pharmacology]] developed in part from herbalism and some drugs are still derived from plants ([[atropine]], [[ephedrine]], [[warfarin]], [[aspirin]], [[digoxin]], [[vinca alkaloid|''vinca'' alkaloids]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = van Der Heijden R, Jacobs DI, Snoeijer W, Hallard D, Verpoorte R | title = The Catharanthus alkaloids: pharmacognosy and biotechnology | journal = Current Medicinal Chemistry | volume = 11 | issue = 5 | pages = 607–628 | date = March 2004 | pmid = 15032608 | doi = 10.2174/0929867043455846 }}</ref> [[taxo]]l, [[hyoscine hydrobromide|hyoscine]], etc.).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Atanasov AG, Waltenberger B, Pferschy-Wenzig EM, Linder T, Wawrosch C, Uhrin P, Temml V, Wang L, Schwaiger S, Heiss EH, Rollinger JM, Schuster D, Breuss JM, Bochkov V, Mihovilovic MD, Kopp B, Bauer R, Dirsch VM, Stuppner H | title = Discovery and resupply of pharmacologically active plant-derived natural products: A review | journal = Biotechnology Advances | volume = 33 | issue = 8 | pages = 1582–1614 | date = December 2015 | pmid = 26281720 | pmc = 4748402 | doi = 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2015.08.001 <!-- | pii = S0734-9750(15)30027-6--> }}</ref> [[Vaccine]]s were discovered by Edward Jenner and [[Louis Pasteur]].

The first antibiotic was [[arsphenamine]] (Salvarsan) discovered by [[Paul Ehrlich]] in 1908 after he observed that bacteria took up toxic dyes that human cells did not. The first major class of antibiotics was the [[Sulfonamide (medicine)|sulfa drugs]], derived by German chemists originally from [[azo dye]]s.

[[File:Sydänlääkkeen pakkausta lääketehdas Starilla vuonna 1953. Kuva Vapriikin kuva-arkisto. (16248845637).jpg|thumb|Packaging of [[Cardiology|cardiac medicine]] at the Star pharmaceutical factory in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]] in 1953]]
Pharmacology has become increasingly sophisticated; modern [[biotechnology]] allows drugs targeted towards specific physiological processes to be developed, sometimes designed for compatibility with the body to reduce [[Side effect|side-effects]]. [[Genomics]] and knowledge of [[human genetics]] and [[human evolution]] is having increasingly significant influence on medicine, as the causative [[gene]]s of most monogenic [[genetic disorder]]s have now been identified, and the development of techniques in [[molecular biology]], [[evolution]], and [[genetics]] are influencing medical technology, practice and decision-making.

Evidence-based medicine is a contemporary movement to establish the most effective [[algorithms]] of practice (ways of doing things) through the use of [[systematic review]]s and [[meta-analysis]]. The movement is facilitated by modern global [[information science]], which allows as much of the available evidence as possible to be collected and analyzed according to standard protocols that are then disseminated to healthcare providers. The [[Cochrane Collaboration]] leads this movement. A 2001 review of 160 Cochrane systematic reviews revealed that, according to two readers, 21.3% of the reviews concluded insufficient evidence, 20% concluded evidence of no effect, and 22.5% concluded positive effect.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ezzo J, Bausell B, Moerman DE, Berman B, Hadhazy V | title = Reviewing the reviews. How strong is the evidence? How clear are the conclusions? | journal = International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care | volume = 17 | issue = 4 | pages = 457–466 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11758290 | doi = 10.1017/S0266462301107014 | s2cid = 21855086 }}</ref>