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The sea as a knowledge development factor in the medical field

from Mer et développement technologique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2017

By
Mark Harrison
Edited by
Christian Buchet  and
Gérard Le Bouëdec
Mark Harrison
Affiliation:
History of Medicine, Oxford
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Summary

ABSTRACT. Sanitary issues are at the heart of the history of mankind in its relationship with the sea. The most serious pandemics were spread via the maritime routes. Increased trip duration from the 16th century and the development of steam power in the 19th century also contributed to the introduction of new illnesses. Experimentation to find ‘solutions’ to these problems and the discovery of different local therapeutics led on-board practitioners to be pioneers in the art of curing illnesses and initiators of new disciplines in the medical domain. Even today, the oceans continue to provide new challenges and opportunities in the field of medicine.

RÉSUMÉ. Les problèmes sanitaires sont au coeur de l'histoire de l'humanité dans ses rapports avec la mer. Les épidémies les plus violentes ont été propagées par les voies maritimes. L'augmentation de la durée du voyage au XVIe siècle et le développement de la vapeur au XIXe siècle ont également contribué à l'émergence de nouvelles maladies. L'expérimentation pour trouver des « solutions » à ces problèmes et la découverte de différentes thérapies locales ont conduit les praticiens-navigateurs à être des pionniers dans l'art de guérir les maladies et des initiateurs de nouvelles disciplines dans le domaine médical. Même encore aujourd'hui, les océans continuent de fournir de nouveaux défis et de nouvelles opportunités dans le domaine de la médecine.

Throughout history, the ocean has presented enormous challenges to human health. During the modern period, as long-distance voyages became increasingly common, familiar problems such as motion sickness and exposure to the elements were joined by new ones, especially those caused by dietary deficiency and infectious disease. With these challenges came opportunities. Travel to foreign locations provided medical practitioners with access to new drugs and ideas, as well as freedom from the constraints imposed by law and custom at home. As a result, maritime practitioners began to make important and distinct contributions to many areas of health and medicine.

Before we examine some of these innovations, we need to consider how the epidemiological landscape was changed by maritime navigation. By the 18th century, long-distance voyages were bringing many parts of the world into regular contact with one another; not simply the Atlantic and Indian Oceans but also, increasingly, the Pacific, including the remotest southern seas.

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The Sea in History - The Early Modern World , pp. 732 - 742
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2017

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