The cover illustration shows Dr. Georg Haas supervising one of the first dialysis treatments, in 1926 (from p.399 of the book)

Topics at a glance

Select a topic of interest and choose any of the landmark publications listed to view a picture illustrating some of the historical context of the discovery reported.

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Cardiovascular physiology, blood
Lung physiology, gases, ventilation, anaesthesia
Life processes, reproduction, metabolism, gas exchange
Germs, theory of diseases, drugs
Diagnostic methods and equipment
Materials, equipment and methods for treating disease
Basic materials and methods in clinical medicine and medical research
	4. 1603 Santorio The first use of quantitative measurements for diagnostics in medicine. 7. 1625 Santorio Introduction of the quantitative measurement of temperature in medicine. 9. 1655 Borel The first publication describing the compound microscope and its use in medicine. 16. 1719 Leeuwenhoek Microscopic investigations leading to many new discoveries in medicine and biology. 30. 1806 Legendre The first use of a statistical method, the least squares technique, in experimental science. 32. 1822 Fourier A powerful new mathematical method applicable to problems in science and medicine. 38. 1839 Daguerre The invention of photography—photomicroscopy—and its early uses in medicine. 40. 1842 Doppler The Doppler effect discovered. 46. 1856 Fick The first general overview of the role of physics in medicine. 49. 1862 Kirchhoff The discovery of spectral analysis for the determination of the chemical elements. 55. 1868 Maxwell Control theory established as a science. 64. 1886 Abbe A new theory and its implementation for much improved optical microscopy. 73. 1903 Tswett The invention of the technique of chromatography. 78. 1920 Staudinger A theory is proposed for the mechanism of polymerisation, and applied to synthesis rubber. 79. 1922 Aston The development of masspectrometry and the discovery of the isotopes. 80. 1929 Carothers The invention and production of industrial polymers, particularly polyamide (nylon). 81. 1931 Van Slyke The first exhaustive review of clinical chemistry as used in medicine. 83. 1938 Ruska The development of the transmission electron microscope. 84. 1941 Martin The invention of partition chromatography and gas chromatography. 85. 1945 Eckert, Mauchly ENIAC, the first programmable electronic computer. 98. 1974 Kahn, Cerf A generally useful internet protocol for communication between data networks.
Anatomy, muscle movement, electrophysiology, sensory physiology