The Rebirth of Science

Rapid Scientific Advances

Great discoveries were made in the nineteenth century. One of them was the discovery of cocaine, which was very effective as a local anesthetic. Surgeons could inject cocaine into a certain part of the body and deaden (заглушать) the pain in that part during the operation.

When the problem of pain was solved, surgeons could carry out long and complicated operations.

A very important discovery was made by the French chemist, physicist and bacteriologist Louis Pasteur. We know him as the originator of the «germ theory» of disease. He discovered fermentation and developed the process of pasteurization. Louis Pasteur produced the theory that disease and infection were caused by germs and he proved that they were spread through the air. He found that germs could be killed in the liquids (жидкостях) by heat (теплом) and the term «pasteurization» was given to this process. Milk is treated in this way today to make it safe to drink.

Rudolf Virchov became known for his work in cellular pathology, and Herman von Helmholtz for his invention of the ophthalmoscope in 1850. Lord Joseph Lister introduced antiseptic surgery in 1867, and Wilhelm K. Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895. He placed his hand in front of the apparatus and saw that the rays passed through the hand and cast a shadow (тень) of bones on the screen (экран). Because he did not know what the rays were he called them X-rays.

Упражнение 2. 1) Прочтите текст и переведите выделенные слова. 2) Просмотрите текст. Найдите в тексте ответы на следующие вопросы.

1. When was steady progress made in the health-related sciences? 2. What did G.B. Morgani explain? 3. What did Rene Laennec invent? 4. What do you know about the vaccination for smallpox? 5. What anaesthetics are used to relieve pain during operation?

The eighteenth century was a period during which steady progress was made in the health-related sciences. New discoveries were made inphysics, chemistry, anatomy, biology, physiology, bacteriology and other sciences.

The beginning of new theories of disease was stimulated by the first great pathologist Giovanni Battista Morgagni who explained the connection of the symptoms of disease in the living body with anatomical findings at autopsy. The English naval surgeon James Lind discovered the ways to treat scurvy (цинга). The great anatomist John Hunter became known as the founder of scientific surgery. The French physician Rene Laennec, with his invention of the stethoscope, extended the development of physical diagnosis, begun by Leopold Auenbrugger.

At the end of the century immunology was introduced in the field of health conservation (сохранение здоровья).

In 1776 the vaccination for smallpox (оспа) was discovered in England by Edward Jenner. With slight modification the same method is still used to provide smallpox immunity today.

In 1799 Sir Humphry Davy discovered that nitrous oxide, or «laugh­ing gas», helped to relieve pain when breathed into the lungs and could make people temporarily (временно) unconscious. Forty years later Michael Faraday found that ether (эфир) had the same effect, and in 1846 a famous American surgeon of the time, John Warren, carried out a successive operation on a patient's throat using ether as an anaesthetic. In the following year it was found that chloroform could relieve pain during childbirth (роды).

Дата добавления: 2014-12-07