How an Italian scientist doing Frankenstein-like experiments on dead frogs discovered that the body is powered by electrical impulses.
How an Italian scientist doing Frankenstein-like experiments on dead frogs discovered that the body is powered by electrical impulses.
After completing his studies in medicine and biology, a restless Ernst Haeckel set off for Italy in 1859 to study art and marine biology. The diversity of life fascinated the 26-year-old Prussian, and in addition to painting landscapes, he spent the
The discovery of a new and mysterious form of radiation in the late 19th century led to a revolution in medical imaging.
As epidemics swept across the United States in the 19th century, the US government recognized the pressing need for a national lab dedicated to the study of infectious disease. In 1887, the government set its sights on a small lab located in the Mari
William Helfand began buying medically themed collectibles in the 1950s when he started working for Merck & Co. Over his 30-year career with the company, Helfand amassed thousands of posters and other old marketing paraphernalia, which were commi
Seventeenth-century Tibet witnessed a blossoming of medical knowledge, including a set of 79 paintings, known as tangkas, that interweaved practical medical knowledge with Buddhist traditions and local lore.
During the Middle Ages, alchemists developed sophisticated ways to tap the medicinal powers of the Earth’s bounty. Liber de Arte Distillandi, published in 1512, is a layman’s guide to the preparation of these natural medicines.
Around the turn of the 20th century—before sunscreens hit the market and the damaging effects of UV radiation were widely appreciated—physicians saw the sun mostly as a source of healing. Sunlit spas nestled high in the mountains became very popula
Though many of René Descartes’ anatomical and physiological assumptions were vastly off target, he was the first to make a convincing case for a purely physical, nonspiritual view of life. Instead of seeing the mind and body as intimately intertwine
As LondonIn suffered one of its worst cholera outbreaks, in the summer of 1853, John Snow took it upon himself to prove that the disease was transmitted through drinking water.