Change and Continuity
Overall, what changed and what stayed the same during the Industrial period?
| Changed | Continued |
|---|---|
| Individuals continued to challenge old ideas, leading to major improvements in medicine. | Religious beliefs were still very strong. People believed illness was caused by God, so they prayed, went on pilgrimages, and relied on care provided by monasteries. |
| Industrialisation introduced new health risks, including dangerous workplace accidents and inhaling the smoke that filled the towns. | People continued to believe in the miasma theory. |
| Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole improved hospital care during the Crimean War. | Poor living conditions continued to allow disease to spread. |
| Louis Pasteur developed Germ Theory, which proved that microorganisms cause disease. | Rich people still benefitted over the poor. |
| Joseph Lister used carbolic acid to sterilise wounds and equipment, helping to reduce infections during surgery. | |
| James Simpson introduced the use of anaesthetics, such as chloroform, to reduce pain during operations. | |
| John Snow studied a cholera outbreak and proved that it was spread through contaminated water, helping to disprove the miasma theory. | |
| Edwin Chadwick highlighted the impact of poor living conditions on people’s health in his 1842 report. | |
| Joseph Bazalgette designed a new sewer system in London after the Great Stink, improving public health. | |
| The government became more involved in public health, introducing laws such as the Public Health Acts. | |
| Science and technology improved, with inventions like the stethoscope (1816) and the X-ray machine (1895). | |
| Medical education became more organised, with training schools such as Nightingale’s nursing schools improving standards of care. |
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