SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND MEDICINE

MEDICINE

Elizabethan era failed to give a high standard of health. Medicines were simple, leaches and cupping were used to get blood.

People with stomach aches would be treated with mint leaves. Vinegar was used to treat wounds because of the belief that it has an antiseptic property.

Because of the lack of medicine, life expectancy was short. The rich would live up to be 35 years old, but the poor would only live to be about 25 years old.

SCIENCE

What we now call science was known as natural philosophy during this era. One of the most famous naturalist of this time was Edward Wotton (1492-1555), who collected data on plants and animals.

William Gilbert (1540-1603) was one of the first Englishmen to experiment in the physical sciences. In his book De Magnete, he discussed contemporary ideas on electricity and magnetism.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was one of the most important Elizabethan “scientists.” Bacon believed that by collecting data from observations from a particular problem, general laws could be formulated.

Medicine

Medicinal suggestions were based on superstition and complete guesses. The doctors would commonly prescribe herbal medicine to improve their patient’s health.

WORKS CITED

• http://faculty.tnstate.edu/smcurtis/Elizabethan%20Science.htm
• http://schoolworkhelper.net/shakespearean-elizabethan-medicine-and-doctors/