The History Of Health Technologies
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The History Of Medical Technologies
Roger Bacon constructed the first magnifying glass. The magnifying power of chips of crystal had been known for centuries, but this was the first convex lens designed for scientific purposes. By about 1280, similar lenses would be used to correct farsightedness; now, they are crucial in surgery.
The earliest known document mentioning concave lenses being used for correcting myopia was a letter from the Duke of Milan to his ambassador in Florence ordering three dozen eyeglasses, including "a dozen that are suitable for near vision, that is for the elderly."
René Laënnec, a French physician, invented the stethoscope, a trumpet-shaped wooden tube, to examine a very fat woman whose heart he could not hear by pressing his ear to her chest.
Dr. Crawford W. Long performed the first operation using diethyl ether as an anesthetic. He pressed an ether-soaked towel against the patient's face to put him to sleep, then removed one of two tumors from his neck. He billed the patient $2, itemizing the cost of the ether as well as the operation.
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, a German physicist, discovered the X-ray, an invention so remarkable that many did not believe the first reports of its use. The New York Times referred to it mockingly as Dr. Röntgen's "alleged discovery of how to photograph the invisible." |