After two or so weeks of researching possible topics and looking into sources I have decided to make my Web Project about the History of Science and Medicine. It is obvious that Science and Medicine go hand in hand. I would think it would be impossible to develop science without simultaneously developing medicine. It is impossible to improve medicine without knowing how the science relating to it works. As it stands right now I am not too incredibly knowledgeable on the exact relationship between the history of science and medicine; that is to say I do not know anymore that I have learned in this class, this semester. I did not enter this assignment or subject with any particular questions but I think this topic will be interesting for myself to research and write about and for others to read about. I have broken my Web Project into three “Episodes.” First, I have decided to start with the Egyptian Pyramids. Now, although this may seem a little too easy or obvious it is merely because I am a firm believer that if you are going to talk about the History of Science as it relates to Medicine then it would probably be a good idea to start at the beginning. Every class that I have ever taken that has placed human development on a timeline (i.e. some sort of ‘this came first followed by these people’ and so on) has started with the Egyptians and this class, as well as my web project, is no exception. Obviously since my project discusses medicine I will be drawing much attention to the Edwin Smith surgical papyrus which is a 1600 BCE document detailing surgical work from the third millennium along with Ebers medical papyrus with is a 1500 BCE telling of incantation and spells. The second “Episode” will deal with The Black Plague/Black Death. I know this may seem like an odd choice being that my first and third episodes discuss the advancement of specific people(s) but I believe I have a sound rational for this. The Egyptians and Leonard were pioneers in the field of medicine; doing anything they could think of to progress the health and quality of the people around them. That being said, The Black Plague of the 1300s was not only a horrible disease/plague of the time and still today stands as a medical terror. Nothing before and nothing since can compare to the ravage of the Plague and medicine could do nothing to stop it. It is ironic to learn how far medicine advanced and yet how much helpless it was to the people of the 1300s. Lastly, my third “Episode” will be devoted to Medieval Science of Leonardo da Vinci. The reasoning behind choosing da Vinci is that if you are going to talk about brilliant thinkers and an intellectual God among men then you have to include Leonardo for he is the epitome of a Renaissance Man. Although most of his success comes from being the greatest painter of the Renaissance movement it is easily forgotten that da Vinci was a brilliant scientist. This fact is evident from many of his writings including the Divine Proportion. I am sure it is obvious now that the thread that the thread that ties my episodes together is medicine and for all three of my Episodes I will be written in an analytical and/or narrative style. I feel these styles are a great way not only to read the information given to those reading this web project but also a great way for me to comprehend and explain the information. There is a lot that could be learned from this project but mainly I'm just hoping to learn and understand more about my topic since, to be honest, I don't know that much! This project should be fun and I think learning about this subject will be interesting. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bibliography: da Vinci, Leonardo. Divine Proportion. 1st . 1509. Imhotep, " Edwin Smith surgical papyrus." History of Science. 1600 BCE. University of Oklahoma. 22 Sep 2008 <http://homepage.mac.com/kvmagruder/hsci/03-Egypt-Aegean/egypt/medicine.html>. " Ebers medical papyrus." History of Science. 1500 BCE. University of Oklahoma. 22 Sep 2008 <http://homepage.mac.com/kvmagruder/hsci/03-Egypt-Aegean/egypt/medicine.html>. Crowe, Michael. Theories of the World. Second. Mineola: Cover Publicatons, Inc., 2001. Lindberg, David. The Beginnings of Western Science. Second. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007. Demand, Nancy. "The Asclepion." University Libraries: University of Washingto. 19 May 2000. University of Washington. 22 Sep 2008 <http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/intro.HTM>. Debus, Allen. Man and Nature in the Renaissance. 1st. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978. "The Black Death, 1348," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2001). Knox, E.L. Skip. "The Black Death." The Middle Ages. June 2004. Boise State University. 17 Nov 2008 <http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/plague/>. |