The Nineteenth Century Awakening
Pioneer of Obstetric Ultrasound: Sir Ian Donald
One of the great medical instruments to have been invented in Scotland is the obstetric ultrasound scanner. With this we can see the baby grow in the mother’s womb, and any abnormalities can also be detected. The leading pioneer behind this breakthrough was Sir Ian...
Pioneer of the Saline Drip: Thomas Latta
When cholera broke out across all continents in the 19th century, millions were left dead in the wake of a horrible pandemic. At that time nobody knew that contaminated water could lead to such horrible plagues with the victims dying in just a few hours from continual...
Pioneers of Dentistry
If any of you have ever experienced severe toothache, you will be glad of modern dentists. John Smith was not only the co-pioneer of The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in 1860, but in that same year he also founded the Edinburgh Dental Dispensary with three other...
Pioneer of Antibiotics: Alexander Fleming
As I lay in the bed at the High Dependency Unit in the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, I found myself thanking God for the antibiotics which were fighting and overcoming the infection in my body. My mind turned to Sir Alexander Fleming, the Scottish man who...
Pioneer of Antiseptics: Lord Joseph Lister
The surgeon had just finished successfully operating on a patient. It was the last one for the day and he was eager to get back home to his family. As he walked back, he mulled over his work. He had done his best job, but he knew that over 50% of patients operated on...
Pioneer of Anaesthetics: Sir James Young Simpson
The next patient came in for an operation, fearful and agitated. He was tied down and given alcohol to drink to help deaden the pain. Despite this, as the surgeon cut through his body there was searing pain, agonising cries, and a traumatic experience. James Young...
Pioneer of Vaccination: Edward Jenner
At the end of 2019 the Coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, China. By Christmas 2021, over 148,000 people were dead in Britain and over 5 million worldwide. Today’s global death rate stands at almost 6.9 million, with the UK losing over 226,000 people. Fear paralysed...
Healthcare in Scotland
At the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, the bishops agreed that “the hospital… be established in every city”in the Roman Empire. The first fully established hospital complex was pioneered by Basil, the Bishop of Cappadocia in AD 369, which, apart from a large hospital,...
Medical Advances from Scotland that Changed the World
As I looked around the High Dependency Ward at the Western General in Edinburgh, feelings of gratitude welled up inside me for the dedicated staff, who day and night gave themselves to saving lives. I had been rushed into A&E with sepsis, following a prostate...
The Suffragists and Women’s Votes
Today in Scotland we take it for granted that women are allowed to vote in politics, and even become members of Parliament. However, the battle for equality was long and hard. Even though the Presbyterian Church practiced a form of Christian democracy since 1560, only...
Abolition of Slavery: The Scottish Christian Influence
With cheers of jubilation the crowd toppled Edward Colston’s statue to the ground. Soon the protesters had attached ropes to it and were dragging the heavy object with great enthusiasm towards its destination – Bristol Harbour – where they unceremoniously dumped it....
The Scottish Bible Society
It is extraordinary to think that Scotland once banned the Bible in English, but by the 19th century it was called the Land of the Book because it was famous for its love of the Bible. When William Tyndale asked for permission to translate the Bible from the ancient...