Science & Technology (Edexcel GCSE History): Revision Note

How important is science and technology to the development of medicine?

• Understanding themes helps explain how and why medicine developed between c1250–present

  • The 12- and 16-mark questions may ask about these themes to test your ability to spot change, continuity, and key turning points over time

• Science and technology are vital to the development of modern medicine

• At first, progress was slow because most people believed in religion and old ideas like the Theory of the Four Humours

• New tools (like microscopes) were invented, but it took time for people to understand and use them effectively

• Once scientists began experimenting and observing, the understanding of disease causes improved

Science and technology in Medieval England

Cause of disease

• No scientific understanding

  • Ideas dominated by: 

    • Religion

    • Galen and the Four Humours

• Miasma theory suggested disease spread through bad air

  • This was a rational, but incorrect, idea

Treatment

• Based on balancing the humours

  • Humoural treatments included:

    • Bloodletting

    • Purging

• Religion influenced treatments

  • People accepted it was God’s will if someone survived a disease

  • The Church recommended prayer and confession

Prevention

• There was no understanding of germs, so people could not prevent illnesses

• Instead, Medieval people:

  • Purified the air using herbs or fires

  • Used prayer and pilgrimage

  • Whipped themselves

Science and technology in the Renaissance

Cause of disease

• The Renaissance and Humanism began an interest in science

• Thomas Sydenham grouped diseases by symptoms

• William Harvey proved that the heart pumps blood around the body

• Some scientists saw ‘animacules’ under microscopes

  • This was an early discovery of microbes

  • Scientists did not understand what they saw

• The idea of transference showed that people began to understand that contact caused disease

Treatment

• There were still only a few practical treatments

  • Transference led to attempts to transfer diseases to animals or objects

  • Iatrochemistry created chemical treatments

Prevention

• As people still did not know what made them ill, methods of prevention did not progress

• In the Great Plague, people tried to prevent illness by:

  • Miasma

  • Prayer

Science and technology in Industrial Britain

Cause of disease

• Louis Pasteur’s Germ Theory (1861) proved that microbes cause disease

• Robert Koch used improved microscopes to identify the specific microbes that caused disease

  • Key examples are:

    • Tuberculosis

    • Cholera

Treatment

• Science and technology began to impact treatments more than religion

• Surgery became safer due to the development of antiseptics and anaesthetics

• Hospitals offered more medical treatments, rather than comfort and prayer

Prevention

• Scientific methods used by John Snow prevented the spread of cholera in London (1854)

• Support for Jenner’s smallpox vaccine increased with better scientific understanding

• The passing of public health acts has increasingly improved hygiene in towns and cities

Science and technology in Modern Britain

Cause of disease

• Scientists identified links between lifestyle factors (such as smoking, diet, and alcohol) and diseases like cancer and heart disease

• The discovery of the structure of DNA showed that genetics could cause diseases

Treatment

• In 2003, the Human Genome Project mapped all human genes

  • This allowed more targeted treatment and personalised medicine

• The mass production of antibiotics like penicillin could treat wound infections

• High-tech treatments became widespread. Treatments included:

  • Chemotherapy

  • Robotic surgery

  • Radiotherapy

Prevention

• Mass vaccination programmes were introduced and expanded

  • Key examples include:

    • Tetanus

    • Measles

    • COVID-19

• Government lifestyle campaigns launched in response to scientific understanding of disease

  • Scientists identified smoking as a major cause of lung cancer

• This led to prevention efforts like advertising bans, Stoptober and anti-smoking laws