ABSTRACT
The revival of Greek naturalism, the invention of printing, the general rebellion against authority in religion of the Protestant Reformation and against religious and regal authority of the Cromwellian period. Even the widened outlook implied in the discovery of America, all shared in rendering advance in science possible. Rene Laennec was constant in making autopsies when possible; and regarded irritating agents as the sole cause of disease. This chapter sketches the slow subversion of authority in medicine, and its replacement by science. It indicates the advances in Physiology associated with the names of Johannes Muller, Claude Bernard, of Ludwig, and of many later physiologists whose investigations have had important bearing on health and the prevention of disease. The chapter also reviews the gradual and halting progress towards the fuller but still very partial knowledge of the conditions of health. It finally discusses preventive medicine and its application to public health.
