No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
René Laennec devised the first stethoscope in Paris in 1816 and published his findings in 1819.
About credit
Laennec’s invention is well documented in his own account. Binaural stethoscopes with two earpieces were developed later, in the 1850s.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before the Stethoscope
Doctors pressed an ear to the chest, which was awkward and sometimes improper. Diagnoses relied on symptoms.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Laennec rolled a sheet of paper into a tube and found that it amplified heart sounds. He then made a wooden tube and used it to relate sounds to findings at autopsy. He named it from the Greek for “chest” and “I examine.”
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
The Stethoscope, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
Channelling sound
A tube directs sound from a small area to the ear, blocking the noise around it.
Channelling sound
Learning the sounds
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Medicine
Diagnosis of heart and lung disease improved.
Doctor-patient relations
Physical examination became a central part of medical practice.
It turned listening into a diagnostic skill. Doctors could hear conditions inside the body, and early signs of disease became recognisable.
V
Before and after
Life before and after The Stethoscope
Before
Ear against the skin.
After
A tube listening to one spot.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.