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The Anatomical Renaissance

In the 16th century, surgery had been perfected to allow artificial noses, ears and lips.

• 15 mins

The Early Transfusion Experiments

It wasn't until 1660 that anyone thought of putting blood back into patients.

• 15 mins

Fever

In the 17th Century, fevers were the main concern of physicians.

• 15 mins

Learning from the Illiterate

Smallpox was taking between 10-15 per cent of all lives in Europe.

• 15 mins

The Coming of the GP

The clash between old guard physicians and a new breed of general practitioners.

• 15 mins

Anatomy and the Invisible Hand

How did this period come to be known as 'the perfection of anatomy'?

• 15 mins

Little Reading, Much Seeing and Much Doing

The French Revolution ushered in new ambition and a new scientific clinical approach.

• 15 mins

Making Signs

Systematic post mortems revolutionised the study of disease.

• 15 mins

A Long and Ghastly Kitchen

Napoleonic France witnessed Dr Magendie's experiments on live animals.

• 15 mins

Changing Disease Identity

A side effect of progress in medical thinking is that diseases had identities changed.

• 15 mins

Sisters of Charity

How the nursing profession was transformed thanks to an enterprising Florence Nightingale.

• 15 mins

Science Has No Sex

A series exploring over 2,000 years of western medicine, presented by Andrew Cunningham.

• 15 mins

Dark Side of Obstetrics

Andrew discusses the work of Ignaz Semmelweis in Vienna.

• 15 mins

A Yankee Dodge

Andrew looks back to the origins of pain relief and how chloroform.

• 15 mins

The Disease is its Own Preventative

The story of Louis Pasteur's development of the anti-rabies vaccine in 1885.

• 15 mins

Stopping the Rot

History series exploring over 2,000 years of western medicine. 20: Stopping the Rot:.

• 15 mins

Culturing the Germ Theory

How a country doctor from Prussia traced the life cycle of an anthrax bacteria cell.

• 15 mins

Transforming Plague

When bubonic plague broke out in Hong Kong in 1894, European rivalry continued.

• 15 mins

The Ministry of Healing

Needing to consult laboratory workers was seen as a threat to physicians' authority.

• 15 mins

Flinging the Tropics Open to Civilisation

What role did European medicine play in spreading European culture across the Empire?

• 15 mins

Near Pavilions

The influence of Florence Nightingale and the sanitarians.

• 15 mins

You Are What You Eat

How medics discovered that the absence of a vitamin could be the cause of a disease.

• 15 mins

It Looks Like a Miracle

The first antibiotic, penicillin, appeared to be a miracle medicine.

• 15 mins

Free at the Point of Need

The National Health Service was set up in 1948 to provide free healthcare for everyone.

• 15 mins

The Crippler

Andrew traces the impact of the great polio epidemics and the ethical dilemmas they posed.

• 15 mins

Transplant

In 1967, Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart transplant operation.

• 15 mins