19th Century Dbq

In the 19th century one can see an increased amount of curiosity, discovery and knowledge, but that suddenly didn’t appear out of nowhere. Real scientific discoveries were brought to life and proven by observation and experiments unlike the answers people before them had thought. Questions about the universe were all explained by divine intervention, karma, or just bad luck in the 18th century. Lots of “answers” were more of less theoretical than based on actual observations. People made up reasons as to why the sky was blue or why someone was dying, but as science started to blossom, many of these misconceptions were corrected. Adam Smith said it best when he stated “Science is the great antidote to the poison of superstition.” People of the
19th century were no longer seeking religious or folk tale answers for their questions, instead science was taken seriously. There was developments in many fields of science particularly in the medical field. It impacted individual’s knowledge about the world and their society.
After the medieval time period the field of medicine was really revolutionized, by the scientific revolution.
Before the progression of the 19th century people generally believed that practicing medicine was revolved around the belief in the four humors which consisted of black, yellow, blood and pleam. It was believed that if an imbalance of any of these bile’s were to occur, that diseases were sure to stem from them. Practices like bloodletting and exorcisms were performed to combat these imbalances. Although there was no real proof of these four biles or their connections with diseases, doctors continued their search the fact that doctors could do relatively little to treat disease during that time meant that they were not always
respected.
It wasn’t until the 19th century knowledge became testable and observable. Medical knowledge about the human anatomy before the enlightenment was completely dominated by Claudius Galen. Galen’s finding were based on dissections done on pigs and apes, and not actually humans. He basically winged the anatomy and physiology of humans off of these dissections. In The Physical Basis of Mind, George Henry Lewes criticizes “‘imaginary anatomy’. He condemns scientists who argue for structures not because they have actually seen them but because these forms would support their theories about how nerves and muscles work.” (130). It was later found out that Galen’s finding had a lot of incorrect information. The scientific revolution encouraged the medical field for example a scientist named Andreas Vesalius corrected many of Galen’s mistakes and created the anatomical book of drawings called De Humani Corporis Fabrica, detailing the human anatomy and physiology drawing in a book. Giving a tremendous gift to all medical students studying anatomy and physiology. This would later give later generations an accurate visual of the human body. Some of the drawings are even used today as reference. The enlightenment focused on solving human problems, in order to help humans, and in this case it helped humans help other humans. Staying on the subject of medicine, new found medical knowledge helped reduced quack doctors. Although faith healers were still active in rural areas. After Louis Pasteur’s germ theory, there was more emphasis on using microscopes and understanding illness. So by understanding that diseases were caused by microorganism instead of the less arcuate cause of superstitions, people were more able to distinguish doctor from quacks. During this time evidence showed that infectious microorganisms could be spread between any two people at any time. So then people believed that bacterial infections could be significantly reduced (but can never be completely eliminated) by washing one’s hands, sterilizing medical instruments and covering wounds. Once this theory became widely accepted in was up to the people to enforce this on their society. After this, each person had the responsibility to keep themselves hygienic. Robert Koch said in The Literature and Science of the 19th Century “Those who ignorantly spread disease, would be like the people he observed in India, who were daily performing experiments on one other” (135). So when it came to find out the cause of diseases and infections many scientist (Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur) proved through experiments and demonstrations. Germ theory literally marks the beginning of modern medicine, although today it seems so oblivious, but this is really one of the most revolutionary concepts in medicine. Scientific medicine today is very different from the medical care experienced by most people up until the 19 century the work scholars like Vesalius and Koch had little effect during at first but most of today’s medicine is based on their working and they helped start a scientific revolution and answered the most pressing questions of their generation.
Stepping away from the improvement scientific discoveries had in the medical field it also impacted the culture and literature at that time.
When people start talking about stuff it because part of one’s culture. During the nineteenth century there was a lot more scientific material in which ordinary people could read. These writings quickly gained some interest, and when more and more people got interested in the topic at hand, naturally people started to write about it. Stories like Frankenstein, The Last Man, and The Stolen Bacillus were one of many factious stories that revolved around the new discovers in science during that time. Most of these sorties were written to entertain of course, but some were to inform. In Frankenstein, the focus of the writer’s work is actually the idea of creating life. The topic is not a new one, but the way this story was employed is what separates it from the rest. Shelly incorporated science, and with all the new discovers being made during her time, this made her story seem almost possible like someday it might happen! People loved the idea of doing/knowing something never done before. She acknowledges this when she wrote “I see by your eagerness, and the wonder and hope which your eyes express, my friend, that you expect to be informed of the secret which I am acquainted.” (para. 146). She makes her readers even more curious, and teases them with the ‘secret’ breakthrough. Scientific discoveries influence these types of stories, and
these stories influence society at that time. One can also say it made an impact today. I mean, what is Halloween without a Frankenstein jamming out to the monster mash? And where did original theme of mad scientist with an experiment gone wrong come from? That’s right Frankenstein.
Last but not least, Vivisection were scientific experiments that were the most taboo of them all, and it wasn’t until the 19th century were vivisection really in the public eye. James Paget saw the peoteintial of vivisections and argued that it was vital for humans to do this in order to discover living matter.
“We have succeeded in discovering the laws of inorganic matter only by penetrating into inanimate bodies and machines; similarly we shall succeed in learning the laws and properties of living matter only by displacing living organs in order to get into their inner environment. After dissecting cadavers, then, we must necessarily dissect living beings, to uncover the inner or hidden parts of the organisms and see them work” (para. 203).

Although their were many critics that opposed vivisections, it continued because of the undiscovered wealth of knowledge it presented. While some people may argue that putting animals in pain in exchange for knowledge is wrong, other may argue it’s more beneficial to us in the long run, Paget stated “Among such practices are the painful restraint and training of our horses and other domestic animals; the caging of birds for the sake of their beauty or their song; the imprisonment of animals of all kinds in zoological gardens and aquaria for study or for amusement. In all these instances animals are compelled or restrained from the happiness of natural life; they have to endure what might be inflicted as severe punishment on criminals––slavery or imprisonment for life.” (para. 209). So this gave way to a new way of thinking. Although this practice is still considered to be cruel, it was necessary for the scientist of that time to do because of the contributions it made to the field of physiology and the understanding of the human body.