Medicine, science and the people

The Age of revolution spawned a raft of astonishing innovations and discoveries. Rapid advancements in transport and manufacturing culminated in the development of the steam engine. This revolutionised industry, transforming the landscape and the way people lived and worked. Medical breakthroughs included vaccination, which led to the eventual eradication of smallpox worldwide, and early anaesthetics, which not only made operations considerably less painful but also paved the way for major advances in surgery and dentistry. Electricity was generated for the first time and successfully applied to the electric telegraph – now messages could be translated quickly over long distances. The period also saw astronomers discover new planets: Uranus and Neptune, the advent of photography and the first ‘computers’. And the Age of Revolution saw the birth of ‘scientists’ themselves – a term first coined in 1833, and significant changes in the way scientific ideas were formulated and transmitted as coffee houses, institutes of learning, and a wealth of associations and publications spread new ideas, techniques and discoveries – and helped to challenge fraudulent claims.