The history of Western medicine: from Imhotep to Christiaan Barnard

Series
Abstract
This course will trace the roots of Western medicine from the ancient world to the subsequent landmarks in contemporary thought which formed the foundations of modern medicine. It will trace western medicine from its origins in the priest/physicians of ancient Egypt and the revolutionary concepts of Hippocrates in ancient Greece, to the beginnings of scientific discovery in the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, culminating in the explosion of advances in the last decades of the twentieth century. Each lecture, illustrated by contemporary objects, manuscripts, drawings, engravings and paintings, will place this evolution in thought in the context of society at the time. LECTURE TITLES: *1. The ancient world – Egypt, Greece and Rome: 3000 BCE–500 CE; *2. Darkness to the first rays of light: 500–1450 CE (podcast not available); *3. The Age of Enlightenment and the birth of science: 1450–1800 CE;* 4. The nineteenth century: squalor and progress; *5. The twentieth century and beyond: breaking barriers
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