Was change in medical practice revolutionary or evolutionary during the Age of Revolution? Enquiry focus 4

The stethoscope

Suitable for students aged 14+

1. Watch

Ask students to watch the Stethoscope video. Ask them to write down any important points about the development and use of the stethoscope in the period.

If you are watching with the students, pause the video to help them reflect on the questions below as well as considering the types of questions the historians are asking. Dr Jones has a fascinating way of discussing technological innovation – what do students think of her ideas?

Can students answer the following questions?

What methods of listening were medics using before the stethoscope?
How did people react to the idea of the stethoscope?
How did the stethoscope develop over time?

2. Test

Students can try this multiple choice quiz to see how much they have remembered from the video. Students working at home can save their answers as a PDF and email them to teachers.

3. Research

The video gives a brief description about the development of the stethoscope over time. Ask students to conduct some independent research on the development of the stethoscope and produce a visual timeline showing the use of different stethoscopes throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries. They should think about the following:

different people working on the same ideas
how the designs for the stethoscope changed and developed over time.

Emphasise the idea of evolutionary change to students. How does the slow adaptation of the instrument show people working together and developing understanding?

The Laënnec stethoscope from the Revolutionary collection is a good place to start.

4. Connect

In the video, Dr Jones discusses the idea that social attitudes and reactions to new technology are often just as important as the new technology itself. Students can look at other objects from the Revolutionary collection which link to social change and reactions to technology e.g.

Letter from Captain Swing

View of New Lanark

For each object make notes about how it:

shows how people reacted to new technology
reveals changing ways of thinking about the world.

5. Think

In the video Dr Jones is sceptical of ‘Eureka moments’ and suggests that changes are made by people and ideas rather than the technology. Ask students to think about their studies of the History of Medicine. Do they agree? Can they think of other examples which would fit in with this idea? In class this could be completed through paired or small group discussion. If students are studying at home they could be encouraged to use email or virtual chats to discuss these ideas.

6. Reflect

This enquiry focuses on the patterns of change in medical practice that we can see during the Age of Revolution and whether this was revolutionary or evolutionary. Ask students to produce a diagram to show their thoughts about what sort of change the stethoscope brought. They could use a diagram like this example.

Explain that the centre of the diagram represents an evolutionary change i.e. something slow and steady; possibly with some points of regression (backwards movement). The outside of the diagram represents revolutionary change i.e. something fast and explosive which changed peoples’ lives or ideas rapidly.

There are five points between the centre of the diagram and the outside. First, students decide whether they think the change brought by the stethoscope was evolutionary, revolutionary or somewhere in between on a scale of 1-5 and mark this on the diagram with a cross. They then add brief notes to explain why they have chosen to give the stethoscope this score.

As they study more objects from this overall enquiry, they will add to this diagram to get an overall impression of whether they think medical change in the period was evolutionary or revolutionary. As students develop their diagram of the pattern of change encourage them to think about the criteria they are using for deciding whether a change is evolutionary or revolutionary. They should also be encouraged to explore other themes to broaden their knowledge and understanding of the period.

7. Extend

In the ‘Connect’ section above, students looked at an object about New Lanark. This was a revolutionary place where many new ideas were trialled. Students can visit the New Lanark website and learn more about the lifestyle of those who lived at New Lanark during the Age of Revolution. As students discover more about New Lanark ask them to think about the practical and ethical questions that might be raised about such a site today.