Click the dots below to explore the origins of medical physics
1600s
1895
1794
1700s
Today
1816
Over the 1700s, mathematicians like Leonhard Euler and Daniel Bernoulli helped develop the maths used to describe blood flow and pressure—turning “messy biology” into something you can predict and test.¹
1700s
In the early 1600s, Sanctorius used a custom weighing scale to track tiny changes in body mass over time—an early example of physics-style measurement applied to human health.¹
1600s
Today, medical physics powers the technologies clinicians use daily: CT and X-ray use ionising radiation, MRI uses magnetic fields, and ultrasound uses sound—different physics, same goal: clearer diagnosis and safer treatment.¹
Today
In 1816, a French physician named Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laënnec invented the stethoscope. He used this invention to listen to the sounds of his patients heart and lungs. He went on to classify pulmonary conditions such as pneumonia using the sounds he was hearing through the stethoscope.²
1816
In 1794, Jean-Noël Hallé was appointed professor of medical physics at the École de Santé in Paris—helping establish medical physics as a recognised discipline.¹
1794
In 1895, a Professor of Physics in Wurzburg, Berlin named Wilhelm Roentgen accidently discovered X-rays. Whilst studying whether cathode rays could pass through glass, he discovered an incandescent light escaping onto a nearby screen. After investigation, the professor realised these rays will pass through most substances and leave a shadow of solid objects, such as bone. He named these 'X-rays' to represent them being unknown rays.³
1895
Today
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Transcript
Click the dots below to explore the origins of medical physics
1600s
1895
1794
1700s
Today
1816
Over the 1700s, mathematicians like Leonhard Euler and Daniel Bernoulli helped develop the maths used to describe blood flow and pressure—turning “messy biology” into something you can predict and test.¹
1700s
In the early 1600s, Sanctorius used a custom weighing scale to track tiny changes in body mass over time—an early example of physics-style measurement applied to human health.¹
1600s
Today, medical physics powers the technologies clinicians use daily: CT and X-ray use ionising radiation, MRI uses magnetic fields, and ultrasound uses sound—different physics, same goal: clearer diagnosis and safer treatment.¹
Today
In 1816, a French physician named Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laënnec invented the stethoscope. He used this invention to listen to the sounds of his patients heart and lungs. He went on to classify pulmonary conditions such as pneumonia using the sounds he was hearing through the stethoscope.²
1816
In 1794, Jean-Noël Hallé was appointed professor of medical physics at the École de Santé in Paris—helping establish medical physics as a recognised discipline.¹
1794
In 1895, a Professor of Physics in Wurzburg, Berlin named Wilhelm Roentgen accidently discovered X-rays. Whilst studying whether cathode rays could pass through glass, he discovered an incandescent light escaping onto a nearby screen. After investigation, the professor realised these rays will pass through most substances and leave a shadow of solid objects, such as bone. He named these 'X-rays' to represent them being unknown rays.³
1895