Vesalius was thereby able to publish an accurate human anatomy text in 1543, and Morgagni to establish morbid anatomy, or pathology, as a discipline in 1761. The second development was the resumption of the dissection of human bodies for educational purposes, beginning in the thirteenth century in Italy. Hippocrates and his colleagues laid the foundations by establishing medicine as a profession and by declaring that it has a rational basis. Seven crucial developments over the past 3000 years shaped physical diagnosis as we know it today. Knowledge of this evolution provides the student with a foundation upon which to build mastery of the art and science of diagnosis. This chapter traces the historical evolution of modern clinical diagnosis. The story of their achievements serves to stimulate the spirit of inquiry in each of us and underscores the obligation we have to add to this pool of knowledge. They were physicians going about the daily practice of medicine.
The pool of information presented in this book has been created by the scholarship of these ten men. Their accomplishments form a "golden thread throughout the history of the world, consecutive and continuous, the work of the best men in successive ages" (Moxon, quoted by William Osler). Ten individuals are responsible for the development of modern physical diagnosis: Hippocrates, Vesalius, Morgagni, Sydenham, Auenbrugger, Corvisart, Laennec, Louis, Mueller, and Osler.
Tradition of medical excellence, but to add to the store of medical Each of us should strive "to rise above the routines of theÄaily ward round and to see in every patient an opportunity not only to serve mankind in the best